Wednesday, October 03, 2007

FINDING DAVE BARRY AT NAMPALLY

I left for Unique Booksellers in Nampally after finishing off some work at my office on Tuesday which was a holiday because it was Gandhi Jayanti. The bookstore is a short drive from my office. It had been a long time since I had visited this second hand book store near Hotel Harsha. Two guys were sitting there and they didn’t appear the usual persons who man the store. They began dusting the books as soon as I entered, following me wherever I went.

There were lots of books on the racks but I was looking for something good and for a while it looked like I may not find anything. After looking at the books displayed in wooden racks lining the corridor of the old building, I asked the guys to let me see the books inside the rooms adjoining the corridor. The building had been some kind of a lodge but now it is not in use. It has about five small rooms on the ground floor. There were more books inside the rooms.

I saw nothing of interest in the first room but in the next room I found the book I was not looking for- Dave Barry's 'Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway'! I had not heard of this title though I have almost all of Dave Barry’s books. It was almost a brand new copy and the price was only 100/-. It was worth more than a hundred rupees and needless to say I bought it. I was glad I had made the decision to drop in at this bookstore on a whim. It yielded a book most Dave Barry fans like me would die for.

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