Michael Kitchen's Blog, page 26

Ten favorite book stores

I saw this article on the Condè Nast Traveler website listing 11 Mega Bookstores We Love.  I’m a bit of a book store connoisseur myself, so I thought I’d do something similar.

My criteria is simple: they must be book stores I have physically set foot in, and their main revenue is derived by the sales of new titles.  This criteria would eliminate John King, where Condè Nast Traveler included it.  That’s okay because in a forthcoming entry I’ll list ten of my favorite used/rare/old bookstores as well.

The list is not ranked, but in alphabetical order – which also seems appropriate because I can’t claim a single “favorite” book store.

TEN FAVORITE BOOK STORES

Book Beat – Oak Park, MI

For over thirty years, Book Beat has been Detroit’s premiere Indie bookseller.  Maneuvering through the narrow spaces between the shelves, it is a browser’s paradise.  Too many times I’ve gone into this store with a single book in mind and discovered more.  Author visits are frequent.  It’s a hip, Detroit cornerstone of art and literary delight.

The Book Loft of German Village – Columbus, OH

There’s more to Columbus, Ohio than Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew SC.  The Book Loft is a huge, two-story building with thirty-two rooms of books.  It’s like wandering through a mansion of books.  They do have a map so that you don’t get lost, but getting lost in this place is half the fun.  Book lovers should plan on spending a few hours here.

Brilliant Books – Traverse City, MI

I started visiting Traverse City annually for the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan conference in 2008.  One year, this classy book store popped up, opening its doors the week I was there.  The sales force is knowledgeable and friendly.  Signed editions are available, some of which I kicked myself for not having picked up at the time.  They have a Surprise Book of the Month club where, for a single payment, they will send you one book a month that, from what I’ve heard, customers love.  They offer a membership, which, if you are voracious like me, will pay for itself in no time.

Horizon Books – Traverse City, MI

I am writing this blog entry in the lower level of this store.  That is how comfortable it feels to be in Horizon Books.  And what could be more special than a book store open from 7AM to 11PM every day.

Since I’ve been coming to Traverse City and writing in their lower level, other groups have met including a knitting group, a mass of Mahjong players, a book club, and Occupy Traverse City.  Friday nights there is live music by local artists.  And books.  Lots of books.  All the new stuff on the main and upper floor; bargain books and magazines in the basement with the cafe.

Literati Book Store – Ann Arbor, MI

A little over a year old, Literati has filled the void left by the closure of Borders in downtown Ann Arbor.  Fiction on the main floor, nonfiction below ground, they are adding a cafe on the second floor.  Awesome atmosphere and host to many authors on tour.

McNally Jackson – New York, NY

My summer trip to New York City introduced me to this pleasant, two-story book store, where literature is sorted by countries, not en masse, alphabetical order by author.  One element that impresses me in a book store is its writer’s reference section, which McNally Jackson was well stocked.  Perhaps this is because they offer book publishing services through their in-store print-on-demand service.

New Horizons Books – Roseville, MI

This makes the list by virtue of being the closest independent book store carrying new titles to my residence.  In business for over thirty years, it does serve its community with the latest titles – leaning more toward the best seller lists than from the Indie Next lists.  It boasts a large magazine selection, yet carries no literary journals.

Nicola’s Books – Ann Arbor, MI

Another gem of Ann Arbor, Nicola’s is located in the Westgate Shopping Center west of downtown, featuring a large selection of titles.  This is another location where authors often visit on their book tours, and signed copies can be found.  I’ve lost many hours browsing the abundant shelves here.

Politics & Prose – Washington, DC

When our daughter attended American University, she resided in an apartment a couple subway stations away from this cozy book store.  An abundance of political and history titles (it is Washington DC after all) and fiction, they host many author visits.  I was in town when Naomi Klein was there for the release of The Shock Doctrine.  On another visit, Barbara Ehrenreich was going to be signing what was her new book at the time – Bright-Sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermining America – the day after we left town.  No problem.  They were willing to have a copy signed and shipped to me.  Over a week had passed from the signing and I contacted them about the book.  They looked it up and discovered they had forgotten to have one signed for me.  No problem.  They sent one of their staff to Ms. Ehrenreich’s residence for signing, then shipped it to me.  Now how’s that for service!  (Awesome book, by the way, if you haven’t read it yet).

Purple Tree Books – Cheboygan, MI

This is not the biggest book store on my list.  Nor is it the easiest to visit.  However, just over a year ago this book store took root in downtown Cheboygan (the top of the Michigan mitten) and serves its community well.  Owner Emily Clare, a well-educated bookseller, named the store in order to bring awareness to Cystic Fibrosis (purple is the awareness color for this incurable genetic disease), which her niece was diagnosed with when only six days old.  It’s a book store with a cause.

Those are my Top Ten Independent Book Sellers.  Soon, I’ll post my Top Ten Used, Rare, and Old Book Stores.

 

Is Buddhism the religion for those who don’t like religion?

I read a recent article by Melvin McLeod, editor-in-chief of Shambhala Sun, on the growing numbers of Americans who do not identify themselves as a member of any religion.  He writes that the “spiritually but not religious” group of Americans are ” the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S.  Generally, they’re educated, liberal, and open-minded, with a deep sense of connection to the Earth and a belief that there’s more to life than what appears on the surface.”  Speaking to these Americans, he poses the question, “Is Buddhism the religion for those who don’t like religion?”

For me, the answer was yes.

My conversion to Zen Buddhism is not the exotic story of a white, suburban young man venturing across the globe and discovering a religious practice different from the Christian background he was brought up in.  Rather, it is a mundane, simple story, despite the more than four decade gap between my being baptized as a baby in the Presbyterian church to taking the Precepts and being given the Buddhist name of DoHaeng.

Photo taken at Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple, Detroit, MI – May, 2008

Throughout my youth I walked the walk of a Christian.  My parents took me to the Presbyterian church in Plymouth -where I grew up- almost every Sunday.  I was an alter boy in my teens.  When my sister and I were younger, we were enrolled in a neighborhood Lutheran church’s week-long summer vacation bible school where the biggest difference I noticed between the Presbyterian and Lutheran service was that one used the term “trespassers” and the other used “debtors” in the Lord’s Prayer.

But it occurred to me as I began high school that the God story was much like the Santa Claus story we were sold on as children.  An all-seeing benevolent being was taking note of our deeds and misdeeds, which would determine whether we would receive a reward or not at a certain time.  If there was no Santa Claus, then where was the proof that God existed?

That’s when I became an atheist.

In my early 20’s I began studying writing.  I discovered Natalie Goldberg’s book, Writing Down the Bones.  It is a writing book that does not focus on the usual categories of grammar, plot, characterization, etc., but on “using writing as your practice, as a way to help you penetrate your life and become sane.”  Goldberg practiced Zen and referenced both writing and Zen practice throughout the book.  This intrigued me and led me to my next softbound teacher, Taking the Path of Zen by Robert Aitken.  What I found was that Zen provided something more useful than a mythical being judging us from the beyond as a guide to live one’s life.  Zen helped peel away the layers of my mind in order to be more skillful in life.

But I lived in suburban Detroit where no Zen temples existed.  I relied on books.  For a period of seven years I attended a Unity church which exposed me to an interesting interpretation of Christianity.  Human issues between the church’s board and their spiritual leader revealed to me that the “practical Christianity” it professed wasn’t very practical in practice.

In 2002, I found Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple on the same day they opened their doors.  They had originally been holding services at a Unitarian church in Detroit.  I had found my place.  The practice and guidance of the founding teacher, P’arang, and current teacher, Koho, has advanced my practice more than two decades of book-learned Zen.

As I read McLeod’s article, he listed ten reasons why Buddhism enriches the path of the “spiritual but not religious.”  These reasons, I realized, are what drew me to the Buddhist path and why Zen works for me.  The reasons Mcleod gives are:

1.  There is no Buddhist god.

2.  It’s about your own basic goodness.

3.  The problem is suffering.  The answer is waking up.

4.  The way to wake up is to work with your mind.

5.  No one is there to “save” you, but you can do it.

6.  There is a spiritual, non-material reality.

7.  You don’t have to take anything on faith.

8.  Buddhism offers a wealth of skillful means for different people’s needs.

9.  It’s open, progressive, and non-institutional.

10.  It works.

For the details of these reasons, McLeod’s article can be found HERE.

Many family and friends struggle with this conversion.  It is okay.  It’s about what works.  For me, Zen provides more insight and guidance for daily living than anything else I’ve ever been exposed to.

A couple of book signings coming up

I’ll be at a couple of events signing copies of The Y in Life.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Grey Wolfe Publishing Autumn Book Launch

Troy Community Center

3179 Livernois Road

Room #305

Troy, MI  48083

7:00PM – 10:00PM

The event will be featuring “The Sun Never Sets” by Cate Caldwell and Matt Pearson with a reading and Q&A session.

OTHER FEATURED BOOKS:

Poetry Plain & Simple by Celia P. Ransom

Free Will by Diana Kathryn Plopa

The Troublesome Trio by Linda D. Vagnetti

The Grey Wolfe Storybook by The Pack Writers

Spring/Summer Legend: 2014 by The Pack

I will not be reading, however I will be signing with other Grey Wolfe Publishing authors at the conclusion of the event.

This is a casual, family-friendly, FREE event, however, your RSVP is expected by October 20, 2014.   Grey Wolfe Publishing wants to make sure to have enough food, drink and books for everyone to enjoy.

To RSVP go HERE

Grey Wolfe Publishing accepts all major credit/debit cards, and cash.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

16th Annual Writers on the River

Ellis Library and Reference Center

3700 South Custer

Monroe, MI  48161

12:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Twenty-six authors, including myself, will be at the library to meet and sign copies of their books.  The event is free and open to the public.  Copies of The Y in Life will be available.  Cash only, please.

For more information go HERE

I look forward to seeing you at these events.

 

 

Colliding and Reflecting

The Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, I was involved in the first car accident since the State of Michigan granted me a driver’s license decades ago.  Fortunately, no one was injured, other than our vehicles.

My car was towed to the insurance-covered body shop for assessment.  At first, I thought it was totaled.  I could not open the driver’s side door, and my wife and I exited the vehicle through the front passenger door which opened only about a third of the way.  However, the insurance company saw it otherwise, and thus began the extensive work – a process which took five weeks to complete.

Five weeks without a car. We became a one-car family, which left me feeling like a grounded teenager.  I would take my wife to work early in the AM in order to use the car if I had to appear in court.  I wasn’t about to risk adventures outside those required, which meant missing the Kerrytown Book Festival, the Wayne State University Literary Walk, and a gathering of writers reading from their works at the home of my instructor/editor.

To make matters worse, my mother-in-law passed on September 13th.  We purchased this property with a second, one-bedroom home on it, in order to provide a more comfortable living arrangement for her versus a nursing home.  It was intended for a much longer duration than the first 152 days of ownership.

Needless to say, the combination of the two events provided me with a great deal of time stationary at home, to write, read, and reflect.

I was more productive in writing.  In August, I had begun to apply a plan I adopted from Gail Sher’s One Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for Writers.  Within, Sher identifies the Five Pillars of Writing (Brainstorming, Journaling, The Draft, Enriching and Refining, and Rest Period) which I have turned into a regular writing plan covering two hours a day, segmented into four periods of composition – two of fifteen minutes in length; a thirty minute segment; and an hour.  The two hour per day routine, even when disrupted, provides for a certainty that something can be done every day, even if it is just one of the segments.  This September I wrote almost fifty percent more words than last September.  Progress is being made over a variety of projects, including producing eighty-five pages of the novel I am currently at work on.

But there was a deeper understanding that I came to during this period about writing.  Though I enjoy attending events in the presence of other writers, a writer must write.  It made me aware of the  distractions that can become a way of life, keeping me away from writing.

I look at this blog, for example.  There are months where I’ve posted regularly, and months where there may be only one or two entries.  During the month of June I had tried to maintain some regularity with the blog, but found myself stretching and ticking time away trying to come up with something worth writing about.  This forum is purported to be a tool to build one’s platform.  Yet, it has become a distraction.  I do not believe that my blog has convinced any one of its few readers to purchase my novel.  If I have something to write about – like a donut on the window sill – then I’ll do so.  And the soccer fans seem to enjoy my Detroit City FC posts.  But it makes little sense to me to try to snare a reader by writing a blog post when really, who has the time to peruse the internet and explore unfamiliar bloggers?  My time would be better served researching or revising a short story that would find itself published within a literary journal where readers, editors, and agents are interested.

Another distraction is Facebook.  It’s taken some time and I’m still trying to assess its purpose.  Is it a place to hold conversations?  Debate politics and religion?  Show off our kids, dogs, or cats?  Take surveys to find out which character from which fictional world I am?

I find the most challenging aspect of Facebook is seeing the posts of people who have fallen for the divisive canards such as Obama’s country of origin, climate change deniers, and the like.  A wise person once told me not to argue with crazy.  Too often I have.  I’ve done so partially to get clarity on why I hold the opinion I do.  In the end, however, crazy isn’t rational enough to change its opinion based on any argument I may make.  And maybe I’ve been crazy to think it might.

What’s worse is the anger that fuels those who believe in the divisive canards.  Anger arises out of a fear, and brewed hot enough, leads to hate.  I try to remember the Buddha’s words:

The worse of the two is one

who, when abused, retaliates.

One who does not retaliate

wins a battle hard to win.

Saṃyutta Nikāya 1.188

It is a battle I’ve lost often by retaliating with hatred.  Most often it comes in the sports arena.  Teams that I dislike, you know.  I try to rationalize it by saying it’s only sports, but sometimes that dark emotion begins to consume me in ways that don’t make me the nicest person in the room.  It causes me to engage in speech that would not be of benefit to those listening to my rant.  But let’s not confuse hatred with taunting.  “Fuck Ohio” is a taunt.  Or am I rationalizing again?

The anger, though, of those spewing and perhaps even believing the divisive canards is far from taunting.  It comes from a viciousness that makes me wonder about some of my fellow humans.

My best option is to observe them like the negative thoughts that arise in my mind from time to time, and try to be gentle with them.  Facebook as a meditation on the collective thoughts of my friends and what thoughts and feelings they bring up in me.

The other thing this period brought to my attention was transportation.  We spent a week in New York City and did not drive the car once.  Here, in Metro Detroit, that is a dangerous proposition.  I considered the walk from my house to Meijers, were I to need to pick up groceries.  The distance of the walk would have been no farther than what we traversed on Manhattan pavement from subway station to book store destination.  However, the walk here is far more dangerous.  The Meijers is on the corner of 23 Mile Road and Gratiot.  Both roads at that point are five lanes – two in each direction and a left hand turn lane.  They are wide streets.  And heavy with traffic.  The two-lane road that would lead me to Gratiot has sections that provide sidewalk, and sections that don’t.  Not the most pedestrian friendly excursion.  This for groceries, mind you.  Without a car, from where I am, there is no short walk or easy mass transit to a book store!

I’ve never considered myself a car guy, even being from the Motor City.  But when the body shop called and said my car was ready for pick up, there was much rejoicing.  Seeing her again, sparkling and unblemished, perfumed with the new car smell within, I wanted to hug her.  However, I remained calm and appropriate with the service rep standing nearby.

It’s funny, you know.   I recently wrote about how September, not January, signified the New Year in my life.  (Ironically posted a few hours before the accident).  With the accident and my mother-in-law’s passing, it truly is a new year, a new chapter, and new awareness.

The doughnut on the window sill

This evening, I took the garbage out to the curb.  On my way back to the house I noticed something odd.

There was a doughnut on the window sill.

I had to pause.  Why is there a doughnut on my window sill?  Who put it there?  When?

It couldn’t have been my mother-in-law, who lives in the small one-bedroom cottage twenty feet from our home.  Her health has been on the decline, most significantly since April.  She is physically unable to make the walk from her home to ours, to place a doughnut on the window sill.  Besides, she would find a better use for a doughnut; she’d consume it.

It couldn’t have been my wife. a self-diagnosed Celiac, who wouldn’t touch a doughnut, let alone put one on the window sill.

It certainly wasn’t me.  Though it is a glazed doughnut, which I would enjoy, I have not had a yummy, sticky, glazed doughnut for so long that I don’t even remember the last glazed doughnut I enjoyed.

But there it is.  A doughnut.  On the window sill.  A most unusual combination.

It seemed an odd place for a woodland creature to place it.  Upon close inspection, it is a complete doughnut, without teeth marks or bites taken from it.

It certainly couldn’t have jumped up there on its own.  It did not run or jump down or fly away as I approached it.

Just a doughnut.  On the window sill.

The more I thought about it, the deeper the mystery.  It had to have been a person.  But who?

Not the letter carrier.  We’re on a rural route where the carrier never leaves her truck to stuff our mailboxes near the street.

There have been no UPS or FedEx deliveries.

There have been no health care professionals in for weeks to tend to my mother-in-law, the window sill being en route to her front door.  She had oxygen tanks delivered recently, but that was well over a week ago.

Who put the doughnut on the window sill?

Why would someone put a doughnut on a window sill?

The mystery became a magnet for my attention.  As I read this evening, the image of the doughnut weaved in and out of the lines on the page; magnified by the fact that it was on the window sill of the room within which I was reading.

I paused.  Thought about it.  Realized that it was like so many unanswerable questions that distract my thinking from my being present.

Things happen that are simply unexplainable.  I have had a rash of such things in the last few weeks; events that have recaptured and interrupted my attention by replaying over and over in my mind.  I could add this doughnut to them.

Or I could recognize it as something that happened, out of the blue, and no amount of thinking, wondering, replaying in my mind is going to change a thing.  Acknowledge it, and move on.

It must have been a Zen Master who left that doughnut on my window sill as a lesson to free me from the stickiness of my mind.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Wait, what?

Masses are not headed for Times Square, bundled to protect themselves from freezing temperatures, in order to watch a ball to drop.

No parties are planned with ample supply of bubbly champagne to toast at the midnight hour.

Instead, in the Metro Detroit area, it’s a mild, partly sunny day in the mid-70’s, with a chance of rain over the weekend.  It’s the last weekend in August – Labor Day weekend to be precise.

Mike, you’ve certainly flipped your lid.  Either that or your compulsive behavior of being early to everything has kicked into overdrive.  It’s four months until December 31st.

Not to worry.  Like you, I’ll soon be flipping a 12-month wall calendar page instead of changing the whole damn thing.

Labor Day weekend traditionally marks the end of summer.  But for me it has always felt like the end of the year with September the beginning of a new one.

Part of it goes back to the education cycle.  The thirteen years of K-12; four more at Eastern Michigan University.  Later in life, the five years of law school.  Add to that my wife has been a teacher for nearly twenty years, and two kids, one graduating high school the other added four years of college, and the natural cycle for me has been that the new year begins in September.

It was also Labor Day weekend in 1984 that we were married, starting a new life as a couple on September 4th.

Other elements have merged into the revolution of my cyclical life.

- It was the first Sunday in September, 2001 that I attended a morning service at Still Point Zen Buddhist Temple in Detroit.  Still Point would close for the month of August, and September has been, for me, the kickoff (or the kick in the ass) to revive my practice from its laxity through the year.

- In September, 2005, we began organizing and planning the opening of our short-lived business venture – Waking Up, the sweatshop-free clothing store.

-In September, 2009, I joined a bowling league, which traditionally begins either the week before or the week of Labor Day.

-It was in September, 2012, that I began tracking my book buying habits and, inspired by Nick Hornby’s column in The Believer, writing about the books I bought and read during the month.

-It was just after Labor Day, 2013 that I received the galley copy of The Y in Life for final revision.  Returned to the publisher at the Kerrytown Book Festival in Ann Arbor, my first novel was launched on September 17th – the second anniversary of Occupy Wall Street.

This weekend will be a time for reflection on what a great year it has been – The Y in Life; book signings; a new house; another fantastic Detroit City FC season; the many new friends and connecting with old ones; and an awesome vacation in New York City.   It will also be a weekend of organizing and preparing for this year.  To start fresh, I intentionally broke my vow of not purchasing a book until 3,000 pages had been read.  In two months I made it through 1,400 pages.  I thought that was good and deserved purchasing the novel I discovered and intend to read very soon and the collection of stories I stumbled upon while browsing Nicola’s Book Store.  I thought it best to start over as my new year begins.

So to those, like me, who find September the beginning of a new year, I’m wishing you a fabulous 2014-2015.

A book lover’s first visit to New York City

It was in my hands.  Its soft cover pressed firm against the pages between.  Its title and author matching one of the many listed on the two index cards in my wallet.

Then, there was the other one.  Another soft cover.  It was not listed on my index card.  I had come across the Detroit-area author’s book in the used section of the store.

Two books.

Neither were from the author or classics I collect.
Neither authors were present for a book reading/signing event.
I was not in New York City.

About six weeks ago, I took a vow; one in which I would not purchase any new books until I have read 3,000 pages of books I already own.  On Saturday, I was tempted to break it.

The compulsion and desire to add to my library had waned while focused on reading three thousand pages.  Then it was the last week of July when I vacationed in New York City.  That was one of the exceptions of the vow.  I knew myself too well.  There was no way that I was going to enjoy a vacation in the Big Apple, trolling the miles of aisles of book stores, and come home empty handed.  And in New York City, book stores are a plenty.

The first visit was to The Strand.

We found it on Friday – our first day in the City.  Earlier in the day we took  a 2 1/2 hour boat cruise around Manhattan Island.  From there we walked to the New York Public Library and viewed the Literary Walk.  On 41st Street between Madison and Fifth, leading to the library, plaques are embedded into the sidewalk – both sides of the streets – with literary quotes.

We then hiked Fifth Avenue down towards Union Square Park, finding the store at the corner of Broadway and 12th.  Needless to say, the legs and feet were tired.  And though The Strand boasts eighteen miles of books, chairs are not among the furnishings of the three floors and basement level of the store.

And, of course, I added to my personal library.  They carry new titles and a great amount of used titles.  The third floor is reserved for their old and rare books.  Despite the fatigue and soreness, we spent a good amount of time, and a little bit of change on some titles I had on my ‘to get’ list that I have not found anywhere else.  Of course, there were a couple surprise additions, as well.

Other events and attractions took up our Saturday and Sunday, so Monday we toured the City by going from book store to book store, starting from Zuccotti Park where Occupy Wall Street took place.

First stop:  McNally Jackson.

Located at 52 Prince Street off Lafayette in Soho, this independent book seller had two floors. It was interesting how they arranged their fiction. Not alphabetical by author, but rather by country of origin, then alphabetical by author within that. An interesting and diverse way of doing it, providing awareness of the national origin of the authors.  I bought two books here, both craft related, both of the Gray Wolf Press The Art Of series books I hadn’t seen around here. The Art of Recklessness by Dean Young and The Art of Time in Fiction by Joan Silber. Just being here in New York was charging my writing battery. I had been working on a short story on the train back and forth between Trenton, New Jersey, where we were staying, and NYC, but it was difficult because the movement made my already bad penmanship worse. I was also reading on the train One Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for Writers by Gail Sher. New York was not only feeding the book addiction, but fueling the writer.

Not far away was Housing Works.

Located at 125 Crosby Street, just a couple blocks east of McNally Jackson, this two-storied book store and bar is a fund-raising center to combat AIDS and homelessness. Books are donated and sold here, and the store is run by volunteers. Really a cool place that I could have spent some quality time in, especially if I had brought my laptop. But we were getting hungry, and so my shopping had to be decisive.  Of course I purchased a couple of novels for the cause.

We then made our way up to 14th Street, took the L across to the West Village, and made our way down to Left Bank Books.

Located at 17 Eighth Avenue, Left Bank Books was a small rare and fine book seller. A lot of first editions in a rather small space, I spent more time walking to it from the subway than I did inside of it. We then pushed onto Three Lives and Company.

This is a quaint little book store at 15 West Tenth Avenue in the West Village. Heavy with fiction, I was impressed with the selection despite the square footage.  No fiction was purchased, but a book on the care of old books and a sale on some older literary journals ($2 for a 2012 copy of The Paris Review – what a deal!) left their shelves and made my book bag a little heavier.  A nice cozy place tucked away in a cool little neighborhood.

The final stop of the day was Barnes & Noble.

NYC is the birthplace of the book chain, and this store was four floors of books. If you’ve been in a B&N store, this one is just like them.  Just a larger selection of titles.  I found a copy of Finn by Jon Clinch that was recommended to me by Karen Dionne at the Detroit Working Writer’s conference a few months ago, which, again, I had not seen anywhere else.  So, yeah, the book bag got a little heavier.

I should state that yes, I do carry a list on index cards in my wallet.  Of course, I could order the titles I’m looking for online.  But the fun of growing a library of material to both collect and to read is in the hunt, and to reward the book store that already has it on their shelves.  (To the best of my knowledge, if you want to reward a book seller carrying The Y in Life, visit Paperback Writer in Mount Clemens, Purple Tree Books in Cheboygan, and Brilliant Books in Traverse City.)

That covers book stores carrying new/used books.  On Tuesday, after walking through a portion of Central Park, we visited three rare and fine book stores.

Here’s a good distinction between rare and fine books.

Fine books, that is books well printed on high quality paper and handsomely bound so that the mechanical components of the book work well together, are different from rare books since fine books may be rare, but rare books are not always fine.  Rare books might be printed on newsprint, which contains damaging chemicals and has a short life expectancy (paperbacks and comic books, for example).  Such books are rare because of their fragility and therefore scarcity.

Fine books stand a much better chance of survival than fragile, rare ones, but in both cases deterioration can be slowed (it can never be stopped completely) with proper housing and handling…

The Care of Fine Books, Second Edition by Jane Greenfield.

Our first stop:  Bauman Rare Books.

This was a different kind of book store experience. More a museum than a book store. After standing there in awe for a moment, the host of the store – and I hate calling it a store, because it seems to cheapen the experience -asked me if I needed any assistance.  I asked him, “can I take a photo?”  He said yes.

If you’ve ever watched Pawn Stars on The History Channel, you know that when a rare book comes into the shop, Rick calls on Rebecca Romney to give an appraisal.  She is an employee of Bauman Rare Books at their Las Vegas location.

The New York City location is at 535 Madison Avenue, between 54th and 55th Streets – in the Midtown East or Diamond District.  They had three showcases; children’s books, fiction, and nonfiction.  Below is a photo of the fiction display.

I asked the gentleman at the gallery (a better description of it) about the satire of Somerset Maugham’s Cakes and Ale – Gin and Butters by A. Riposte. He couldn’t locate it. I asked about Maugham, and he said that they may have editions of his books in Philadelphia or Las Vegas, but I didn’t want him to explore. He guided me to a shelf of fiction that could have Maugham novels. There was no order to it – not alphabetical by title or author. I picked up a Jack London novel.  Carefully opening the book, its cover in protective wrapping, the first thing I noticed was the price:  $5,500. I didn’t need to go any further and gently put the book back.

I did walk out of Bauman with something; it’s free book catalog.

It was just another world.  Garbed in a Detroit City FC jersey and shorts, I felt extremely inappropriately dressed as well.  Felt like I needed to be in a suit.

We walked up the block to visit another rare and fine book store that I had on my list.  It was called Ursus up at 699 Madison Ave., between 62nd and 63rd. But my wife found another on her GPS called Argosy at 116 59th Street between Park and Lexington. We decided to stop there, first.

A very cool place with used interesting books, as well as fine and rare books. We only accessed the street level and basement, where there were a plethora of old books.  The basement, specifically, had shelves of newer used books of quality.   We ended up coming back here Wednesday to pick up a signed edition of Book Collecting 2000 by Allen and Patricia Ahearn, especially after what happened next.

We walked back to Madison and 62nd where the Ursus Books and Prints were.  It was a business on the third floor of a building. As we rode the elevator, we saw that another rare and fine bookseller had an office on the 7th floor. Ursus, to me, was a waste of time, as its few rare books had a focus on art, and the prints were more prevalent.  We decided to ascend to the 7th floor to check out the other bookseller. A woman entered the elevator with us and said she was going up, and so were we. We happened to be riding with the photographer for both booksellers.  She keyed us in.

James Cummins had quite the selection of Somerset Maugham books.  The studio was heavy with shelves and Mr. Cummins was helpful to these two tourists from Detroit.  The Maugham books were all on a top shelf that he had to climb a ladder to retrieve, but before I knew it, there were a good dozen or so works of the English author’s works before me.  As I looked at prices, some were beyond my budget.  However there were a couple that fell in a range that I could justify – an amount less than what I get paid for a single felony court-appointment out of Macomb County.  Torn between two of them, I ended up buying  Liza of Lambeth, a Jubilee Edition celebrating the 50th anniversary of Maugham’s first novel, signed and numbered, #991 out of 1,000.

Awesome.

Before heading out to Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, there was a final stop to make:  The Center for Fiction.

The Center for Fiction is at 17 East 47th Street on the Upper East Side. Novels sold at up to 50% off, used books in the back, and a library for members. There is also a writer’s studio that can be rented. I can imagine it;  you’re a young writer, living in a small studio apartment, needing a place to write, but there’s not enough space at your place.  The Center for Fiction would be quite helpful.  Cool place, indeed.

It’s almost trite to claim that my first visit to New York City was life changing.  It fed my total literary life – enhancing my reading of novels set in New York; deepening my understanding on how to strengthen my writing skill; and fine tuning the development of my personal library – with a consciousness to maintain a balance among the three so that I’m well nourished in the joy of the written word.

So on Saturday, as I held the book in my hand while at a local B&N, my memory returned to NYC.  Since I took the vow, I’ve read 800 pages.  Having to start over would be difficult.  It took me six weeks to get to this point.  I was even writing more.

I placed the book back on the shelf and walked away.  It would be there another day – 2,200 pages from now.

Book-collecting.  It’s a great game.  Anybody with ordinary intelligence can play it; there are, indeed, people who think that it takes no brains at all; their opinion may be ignored.  No great amount of money is required, unless one becomes very ambitious.  It can be played at home or abroad, alone or in company.  It can even be played by correspondence.  Everyone playing it can make his own rules – and change them during the progress of the game.  It is not considered “cricket” to do this in other games.

A. Edward Newton, The Book-Collecting Game

Working on a new project using old technology

Yep.  That’s a Smith-Corona Coronet Automatic.

90 minutes within the Northern Guard Supporters section

July 11, 2014

Detroit City FC hosted the Fort Pitt Regiment in the friendly confines of Cass Tech Stadium in Detroit.  This evening I placed myself within the cauldron of the Northern Guard Supporters section, and with these videos, I bring you with me.

Singing “Detroit City, We Love You So”

Chanting “DC (clap clap) FC”

Sharing a chant with the other side of the pitch.

After scoring our first goal to tie the game at 1-1. We Score,We Shout, And Then We Smoke You Out!

Celebrating Shawn Lawson’s brilliant goal to put DCFC ahead 2-1.

Doing the Tetris from within the Northern Guard Supporters Section. Warning, I am actually doing the tetris so there is a lot of movement in this video. Some may feel a little sea sick while viewing.

Celebrating the third goal from within the Northern Guard Supporters Section. There’s going to be a party in Detroit, no one’s sleeping tonight!

World Cup – the final phase

Friday, Finally!

June 27, 2014

-A day off from the 2014 World Cup as it enters The Round of Sixteen, also known as the Knock-out phase.

Each game is a head-to-head match.  If at the end of 90 minutes the score is level, another thirty minutes (two fifteen-minute halves) will be played.  If still tied at the end of 120 minutes, it goes to penalty kicks.

Beginning tomorrow, here is how it breaks down:

Saturday:

Brazil vs Chile

Columbia vs Uruguay

Sunday:

Netherlands vs Mexico

Costa Rica vs Greece

Monday:

France vs Nigeria

Germany vs Algeria

Tuesday

Argentina vs Switzerland

Belgium vs United States.

The United States have been impressive.  Not the cleanest of performances, they’ve gotten the job done.  They came out against Ghana with everything they had, with Clint Dempsey scoring in the opening thirty seconds, and concluded with heroics in the final minutes to win the match, 2-1.  With Portugal, they faced the fourth highest ranked team in the world, and one of the best players in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo.  After falling behind in the fifth minute, the US struck twice in the second half, providing the unfathomable dream that the US could qualify for the Round of Sixteen after only two games.  However, Ronaldo, in the dying stages of the match, sent in a quality cross, which ended up in the back of the US net.  Still, a 2-2 draw against the 4th ranked team in the world was enough to make advancing out of the group an almost certainty.  All they had to do against the powerful German team (ranked 2nd in the world), was win, draw, or lose by a narrow margin.  On a rainy day and soggy pitch, the US held Germany to a goal (after scoring six in their previous two matches) – a very impressive result, and one that did not eliminate them from the group stage.

Right now, kudos has to go to the US Men’s soccer program for selecting Jurgen Klinsmann as our coach.  Leading up to this moment, there has been a lot of questioning and criticism of the things he’s done, such as leaving Landon Donovan off the team.  Former USMT coach, Bruce Arena said, sarcastically, that the US must be favorites if there are 23 players in the lineup better than Landon Donovan.  In more recent World Cups, we’ve had college coaches who’ve had some or limited success as coaches in Major League Soccer – not one of the premiere leagues of the world – and no World Cup experience as either player or coach.  Klinsmann was a star for Germany who had both played and coached for the German team.  He knows football and how it is played at the highest level, not just skill and talent but also on training and development.  It was a bold move to step outside the ‘Merican box of selecting a home-grown coach, and so far, it’s working out to my satisfaction.

In any event, we’re in for a fun ride, starting Tuesday against Belgium.  We either win or go home.

-Finally, soccer returns to Cass Tech as Detroit City FC host Westfield Select (out of Indiana) at 5:00 PM on Sunday.  Enjoying the World Cup on television is nice, however viewing the beautiful game in the rowdy confines of Cass Tech High School’s stadium is an experience you should not deprive yourself of – especially if you live in the Detroit area.  This will be a tough match for DCFC, as this team is the only one to hand DCFC a regular season loss in almost two years.  From what I’ve heard, this Indiana-based team plays out in some cornfield where the cawing of the crows break the silence of their matches.  Their players are about to enter Our Heaven, Their Hell.

Photo by Michael Kitchen

Enjoy your weekend!  Our union men and women fought hard for us to have them!