Letters from North
America
“My
name is Peary Perry”.
“Welcome, Peary Perry”.
“I am a bookaholic.”
“Welcome, Peary Perry,
bookaholic.”
I suppose that’s how it
would go if there was
such an organization. I
probably need to join
some kind of social
group to be able to
restrain my book buying,
book saving compulsion.
I can’t seem to help
myself and am in danger
of spinning totally out
of control.
When we moved some
months ago, I know we
had more boxes
containing books than
any other item in our
house. I have quit
trying to count how many
we have scattered all
around each room. I tell
myself I’m going to stop
buying new ones and
start reading the old
ones, but somehow that
just never seems to
happen. Long ago I
stopped feeling huge
amounts of guilt because
I have books which were
bought twenty years ago
that haven’t been read
as of yet.
Now, to be honest most
of the books I have not
read are all reference
books of some sort, not
novels. Well, that’s not
totally true; in fact
that’s a lie. Years ago,
I signed up for some
program called “The 100
Greatest Books of All
Time.” Each month for
100 months (almost 9
years!) I got a gold
edged leather bound book
in the mail. Little
ditties like ‘War and
Peace” and “Tristam
Shandy” and that all
time favorite…. “The
Peloponnesian War.”
Books that you find
really difficult to pick
up and slip off to some
quiet corner for an
afternoon of light
reading enjoyment. All
100 of these came with a
synopsis outlining the
story and plot. I can’t
even bring myself to
read those. So, they sit
in a bookshelf looking
marvelous which elicit
comments from visitors
from time to time.
Comments such as … “Oh,
how nice…I suppose
you’ve read all of
these?” I guess I should
look for someone or some
place to donate them to
before I die, I don’t
want anyone to have to
move them again. Too
much trouble.
I don’t keep novels,
once I’ve read them I
tend to pass them along
to someone else to enjoy
or throw away. My wife
reads a lot of the
things I happen to like
so she gets first dibs
and then they go to
whoever is interested in
the leftovers. She and I
differ in our reading
beliefs. Once I start a
book, I’ll try to finish
it unless it’s really,
really bad. I mean
really, really bad. I
keep thinking it might
get better if I just
wait long enough. She
won’t do this. She
starts one, and if it
stinks, then she has no
problem stopping, not
going to waste her time.
As you can guess, I find
this hard to do.
I get on one subject and
tend to stay there until
I just get sick of it.
Before my surgery in
June, I had gotten into
a group of novels that
were 1200 pages long. I
think I did about six of
them before I gave up
and surrendered. I felt
like these people were
taking over my life.
Then I found a mystery
writer and read all
thirteen of his books.
After the last one, I
panicked and found
myself in our local book
store searching the
shelves in a sort of
daze much like some drug
addict looks for their
next fix. I’ve done
Roman history novels,
World War I and II
novels, spy stuff,
murders; English naval
novels…just about
anything entertaining
that I can get my hands
on will satisfy my
craving.
I shy away from westerns
and science fiction, but
everything else is fair
game as far as I’m
concerned. Historical
fiction is the best if
it’s done right.
I no longer belong to
any book of the month
club. I guess they’re
still around, but I kept
getting things in the
mail that weren’t
interesting and you have
to pay for them or ship
them back. Do they even
have book clubs anymore?
I never really liked the
way the pages looked on
the ends, like they were
torn rather than cut. No
one could ever tell me
when they looked that
way in the first place.
I do remember they
weren’t all that cheap.
Especially if you forgot
to mail in the little
card each month telling
them you didn’t want
that month’s selection.
Some of their selections
were really awful, but
you still had to pay for
them. I’m sure this is
how they made their
money.
I suppose my addictive
habit is somewhat
harmless, it keeps me
off the streets and out
of the bars. Besides you
save more money buying
books than you can
buying glasses of wine
these days. And you
still have something to
give away.
But, then that’s another
story.
Comments go to
pperry@austin.rr.com
