She hauled a huge canvas shopping bag with books into the store. I told her, "I can look at them here," stopping her near the door and bringing over the round step stool for that cumbersome thing, saving her some steps. Out came the sorriest books. It was an offering I've seen too often. Books in shabby covers, no dust jackets, faded, damp stained, torn. But even if pristine, they would have no value because they were by authors you might have heard of but probably not.
I'm so kind. I don't say, "Take your junk, garbage, trash out of here." Instead I explain that when someone buys a book, they want a fresh clean copy, that when someone comes to my store they are looking for a very special book.
She plays her trump card, "These are all first editions. They all say first edition," in her Gotcha attitude. But she doesn't get it when I explain that every book, every single book ever made was a first edition, the first time around.
By rote now I say, "It has to be by an author who is prominent, the book has to be important, it has to be the nicest copy, it has to have a crisp dust jacket." We are taking for granted that it is a first edition we are even discussing.
And why do you think a person will pay a big price for such a book? Because most of the books that come into the store are Used Books and worse. They are brought in by people who listen in awe to the marvelous fairy tales on TV about great-uncle's one good book, or read in the papers about Dumpster Diving and finding a treasure. You see it and read about it because it is a rare event and newsworthy. The other books were thrown out because they were dead.
In the future when we are all reading our books on electronic devises, we will not be troubled by books that are obsolete and best forgotten. We will just hit Delete.
---Florence
"She hauled a huge canvas shopping bag with books into the store..."
I think you missed a big opportunity here. Because of the recycling and sustainability craze, canvas shopping bags are in high demand nowadays.
Posted by: steve shay | March 30, 2008 at 09:58 AM