Your book story

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KevinS
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Post by KevinS »

The remarkable thing about college life decades ago was that a young person always seemed to have enough money for coffee, cigarettes (I know. I know.), and a newspaper. Books not demanded for course work, however, were out of the range of my budget. Sometimes, though, you run across an offer that cannot be refused. My friend David and I ran across a bootleg edition of Salinger's largely unavailable stories. It was an odd sort of thing, in two thin volumes, and we went in halfsies (sp?) to buy it. We would exchange our volume for the other whenever it was called upon. I got Volume 1, I think. It's here somewhere today and worth a surprising amount. The two together would pull in hundreds, if you can imagine that.

Unfortunately I lost track of David after graduation. Rumor has it he is an California. I wonder sometimes if he still has his volume. I could offer to buy his half, but I don't really need another book. And the economic incentive doesn't exist for me as I don't sell my books. Friends sometimes wander off with some of mine, but I imagine I still have some of theirs that I 'borrowed.'

What's your story?
JayKitty76
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Post by JayKitty76 »

Do you remember David's last name? You could probably search him on Facebook/social media, etc., and find out if he still has his half of the book, if only for curiosity's sake.
I haven't quite lived long enough to have a good book story (yeah, I have borrowed books before from friends without returning them, though... :oops: )
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mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

When I was a kid, I found a $2 bill in a book at Half Price Books. But it was a book I wasn't interested in. So I moved it to a book I was interested in, asked my mom to buy it for me (or maybe I had money of my own in those days and I bought it myself), and then on the way home, "Oh, wow, look! There's a $2 bill in my new book!"

And yes, I did get to keep it.
SonOfTheExiles
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Post by SonOfTheExiles »

Bachelor of Science, University of Sydney, early 1980s.

The School of Physics' Library had a copy of a book that would no way pass muster these days. Below is the book in question.

The author used to travel around giving lectures, often humorously introduced by a female professor or grad student in the attire in question.

Definitely another era.

Image
Currently on sabbatical from Librivox
KevinS
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Post by KevinS »

JayKitty76 wrote: ↑April 29th, 2021, 7:14 pm Do you remember David's last name? You could probably search him on Facebook/social media, etc., and find out if he still has his half of the book, if only for curiosity's sake.
I haven't quite lived long enough to have a good book story (yeah, I have borrowed books before from friends without returning them, though... :oops: )
I do remember David's surname. Maybe I'll do some sleuthing!
KevinS
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Post by KevinS »

mightyfelix wrote: ↑April 29th, 2021, 7:20 pm When I was a kid, I found a $2 bill in a book at Half Price Books. But it was a book I wasn't interested in. So I moved it to a book I was interested in, asked my mom to buy it for me (or maybe I had money of my own in those days and I bought it myself), and then on the way home, "Oh, wow, look! There's a $2 bill in my new book!"

And yes, I did get to keep it.
Hahaha!
KevinS
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Post by KevinS »

SonOfTheExiles wrote: ↑April 30th, 2021, 12:23 am Bachelor of Science, University of Sydney, early 1980s.

The School of Physics' Library had a copy of a book that would no way pass muster these days. Below is the book in question.

The author used to travel around giving lectures, often humorously introduced by a female professor or grad student in the attire in question.

Definitely another era.
People had a sense of humor years ago. I remember those days.
JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

I was homeschooled and did a lot of reading, and eventually wanted more books than I could readily get at the town's public library, so we started going to the nearest city (Portland ME) to borrow books there. I was initially overwhelmed by having two very large floors of books to choose from...

On one of our early visits I was gloating over my book pile, which bulged well over the top of my book bag, as we walked outside, and I wasn't attending to my feet. I stumbled on the threshold and sent books flying everywhere. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there seemed to be a large number of people standing around, many of whom retrieved books and piled them back in my bag.

I mumbled apologies and thanks and said, as we headed down the street to our car, how nice it was that they were there. My mother sighed and said that she'd opened the door, seen and heard a bunch of teenagers apparently on the edge of a fight, and hoped we could get through before that boiled over. I suppose she was right, as she was generally much more observant than I was... but they were nothing but helpful to us.
Back from a low-internet no-Librivox year in Georgia. Glad to be with you again.
KevinS
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Post by KevinS »

JoannaHoyt wrote: ↑May 1st, 2021, 10:47 am
Are you suggesting that by spilling literature at teenagers, you calmed them and avoided a gang war? We should do that more often.
JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

KevinS wrote: ↑May 1st, 2021, 11:42 am
Are you suggesting that by spilling literature at teenagers, you calmed them and avoided a gang war? We should do that more often.
Eh well, I don't think it was quite at the gang war point. But it's occurred to me when I've read of brawls between opposing partisans that maybe if someone were to strategically fall in between angry groups approaching each other, and spill something...I was thinking of oranges, which roll nicely and provide a physical barrier to charging, but maybe literature would have a more tone-raising effect.... something good might happen.

Or,of course, somebody might assume that the strategic faller had been shot, and things could get worse. I haven't tried this one out.
Back from a low-internet no-Librivox year in Georgia. Glad to be with you again.
KevinS
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Post by KevinS »

JoannaHoyt wrote: ↑May 1st, 2021, 12:04 pm
KevinS wrote: ↑May 1st, 2021, 11:42 am
Are you suggesting that by spilling literature at teenagers, you calmed them and avoided a gang war? We should do that more often.
Eh well, I don't think it was quite at the gang war point. But it's occurred to me when I've read of brawls between opposing partisans that maybe if someone were to strategically fall in between angry groups approaching each other, and spill something...I was thinking of oranges, which roll nicely and provide a physical barrier to charging, but maybe literature would have a more tone-raising effect.... something good might happen.

Or,of course, somebody might assume that the strategic faller had been shot, and things could get worse. I haven't tried this one out.
Free copies of A Clockwork Orange?
JoannaHoyt
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Post by JoannaHoyt »

KevinS wrote: ↑May 1st, 2021, 12:11 pm

Free copies of A Clockwork Orange?
:lol: Worth a try...
Back from a low-internet no-Librivox year in Georgia. Glad to be with you again.
DOLZ
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Post by DOLZ »

mightyfelix wrote: ↑April 29th, 2021, 7:20 pm When I was a kid, I found a $2 bill in a book at Half Price Books. But it was a book I wasn't interested in. So I moved it to a book I was interested in, asked my mom to buy it for me (or maybe I had money of my own in those days and I bought it myself), and then on the way home, "Oh, wow, look! There's a $2 bill in my new book!"

And yes, I did get to keep it.
Sorry I'm late to the party but.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
I bravely venture down those roads less traveled but not without applying sunblock first :wink:
DOLZ
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Post by DOLZ »

I don't remember how old I was (I'm just that old now :wink: ) but I remember a book fair at school. Parading around tables with books stacked and little time to make any kind of decision, I fixed on a particular paperback. Pleased with my selection I remember putting it in my bag then forgot about it until I got home and went digging in my bag for homework. Rediscovering my prize, I waved the book in the air and said to my mom, "Look, I got a book from school that I can keep". She took it out of my hand to examine it and without a word, took the book away and I never saw it again. I was heartbroken and very confused. My mother wouldn't' talk about it for years.

Finally, when I was older, she broke her silence. She told me that the book I brought home was about Chinese war propaganda. I didn't know what 'war' she was talking about, what the Chinese had to do with it, or what the word 'propaganda' meant. Being of the depression and World War II era, she had a lot of bias, another word that took me decades to understand. All I knew was I got a book I never got to read.

Of course, I forgave her for it and, well, gave her the benefit of the doubt. It wasn't until I was in college that learned what the 'I, Ching' was really about. Looking back, unbeknownst to me, I chose a book that was visually appealing but would have been so far over my head I most likely wouldn't have understood it or stuck with it. My mother was obviously wrong, and, most likely didn't know what it was about herself, she just let her bias define its contents.

I didn't not learn from the I, Ching. On the contrary, I learned a lot, it just didn't have anything to do with the object of the book. I learned a lot about the scars my mother carried from the era. I experienced censorship under my own roof, and I learned the degrees a parent will go to to protect her child from perceived danger.
I bravely venture down those roads less traveled but not without applying sunblock first :wink:
mightyfelix
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Post by mightyfelix »

Currently, my book dilemma is, do I buy the paperback edition that includes the original illustrations by Arthur Hughes or the annotated hardback edition with no illustrations for three times more? Decisions, decisions...
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