Thanks to the Abids booksellers I can claim to have read magazines like ‘New Yorker’, ‘The Atlantic’ and such high brow magazines that are hard to find otherwise. It is a bit unusual to find the latest issues of such magazines though I had been extremely lucky in the past. This Sunday I found the September 1, 2008 issue of ‘The New Yorker’ that I got for only ten rupees. Apart from the terrific cartoons, the magazine usually carries articles and review by well-known writers. This issue had John Updike’s take on Max Factor, the make-up magnate.
The magazine was the only find this Sunday, but there were other books I now wish I had picked up. One was ‘The Diary of a Mad Housewife’ (I don’t remember the author’s name but it was a Penguin imprint) and another was Peter Matthiessen’s ‘Snow Leopard’. I have this book but the copy I saw on Sunday seemed a different edition. I had this book for just twenty bucks in the past, but I knew the seller with whom I saw the book on Sunday wasn’t the sort to sell it for less than a hundred rupees so I did not even ask. But now I wish I had asked the price at least. It appeared to be a good copy and if it is there next week, I might pick it up.
With Diwali only days away, all the regular shops at Abids were open forcing the bookseller to move away to nooks and crannies. But there were more book sellers this Sunday than is usual on such days. I had seen a book by Helene Hanff called ’84 Charing Cross’ or something like that sometime last month at Abids before the festival shopping season began. . I remember the book was reviewed in “Literary Review” of The Hindu a couple of years ago. It is something about a book collector and a bookstore. I wish I had picked up the book the day I saw it. If it is there next week then I will add it to my collection.
The magazine was the only find this Sunday, but there were other books I now wish I had picked up. One was ‘The Diary of a Mad Housewife’ (I don’t remember the author’s name but it was a Penguin imprint) and another was Peter Matthiessen’s ‘Snow Leopard’. I have this book but the copy I saw on Sunday seemed a different edition. I had this book for just twenty bucks in the past, but I knew the seller with whom I saw the book on Sunday wasn’t the sort to sell it for less than a hundred rupees so I did not even ask. But now I wish I had asked the price at least. It appeared to be a good copy and if it is there next week, I might pick it up.
With Diwali only days away, all the regular shops at Abids were open forcing the bookseller to move away to nooks and crannies. But there were more book sellers this Sunday than is usual on such days. I had seen a book by Helene Hanff called ’84 Charing Cross’ or something like that sometime last month at Abids before the festival shopping season began. . I remember the book was reviewed in “Literary Review” of The Hindu a couple of years ago. It is something about a book collector and a bookstore. I wish I had picked up the book the day I saw it. If it is there next week then I will add it to my collection.
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