A sad thing, really, to see how the book faire has dwindled over the years, about half as big, I think, as ten years ago. You can still find very interesting stuff there, but no Bruno. James Whitcomb Riley in abundance, and other regional authors fill the scant shelves, on the assumption, I assume, that this is what book hunters are looking for in Indiana. I suppose it is a difficult decision to make: how much is worth bringing and setting out at a dwindling venue in the midst of a recession?
Still, I tend to buy replacement books-- poetry, criticism, history-- for the books that I bought 40 years ago, often in paperback, often now yellowed and falling to pieces in my hands. So I was happy to see a complete poems and plays of T.S. Eliot for $10 in perfect condition to replace the half-dozen mouldering paperbacks I currently own (though I probably won't toss them either).
I found a John Crowley book too: Beasts. I did not yet own a copy of it, and when I was in high school I belonged to the DoubleDay Science Fiction Book Club, so my sci-fi nostalgia kicked in to such an extent it made my day (it was the D. book club edition I found). Of course, I was out of the club when this book was issued, but it was still like finding an old friend in the garb of other old friends.
I was not suprised to find chapter quotes from both Wittgenstein and T.S. Eliot (Chapter 2-- "If a lion could talk, we would not understand him" L.W., and "Oh keep the dog far hence that's friend to men" T.S. E.) immediately upon opening the book. How does he know how to make these sorts of things happen?
I wish I had noticed in highschool that an anagram for T.S. Eliot was "toilets." One more pointedly in the direction of Beasts: Leo's tit. But also being a Palindrome fan I have bagged a new one for me: "T.S. Eliot Toilest." That's my critical review of his poetry and I'm sticking to it! Possibly, I am the last person in the world to discover this palindrome. If that is true, I can say only that I now feel ever so much more human!
