The Sunday Haul

Two Lucky Finds

Last Sunday I got lucky again finding books which turned out to be bestsellers of sorts. The two books were by authors I haven’t read about anywhere. To be honest I had not heard of Charles Willeford or Moritz Thomsen either before I found their books at Abids last Sunday. These two books also had another common coincidence- they were linked by two authors I like - Elmore Leonard in case of Charles Willeford and Paul Theroux in the case of Moritz Thomsen. Though the two books cost me a hundred bucks I am glad I found them.

About four weeks ago I came across a travel book at Abids that had an introduction by Paul Theroux. Now, Theroux isn’t the sort to write introductions to books by authors whose works he doesn’t know too well so when I saw Moritz Thomsen’s ‘The Saddest Pleasure- A Journey on Two Rivers’ I was tempted to pick it up. The guy quoted for an astronomical sum for the book so I backed off. The next day I was filled with regret for not having picked up the book. For the next two Sundays I looked for it but couldn’t find it so I thought someone very smart must have picked it up. I had almost forgotten about it but last Sunday I saw it on the racks and immediately pounced on it. I was prepared to pay any sum for it but I got it for only eighty bucks.

‘The Saddest Pleasure’ wasn’t the first book I bought on Sunday. A few minutes earlier I had come across a book with an attractive and unusual cover that stood out among the piles of books on the pavement. It was ‘The Shark Infested Custard’ by Charles Willeford. I had almost decided to buy the book based on just the cover. (yes, I know one cannot judge a book by its cover alone but I do it quite often) When I turned around the book I found a line at the back that made me buy the book instantly. A line of praise by Elmore Leonard for Charles Willeford goes like this: ‘No one writes a better crime novel than Charles Willeford.’

Back home when I checked these two titles on Amazon I was overjoyed to see that they were sort of classics. Moritz Thomsen seems to be the sort of writer I would enjoy reading. I still cannot believe I picked these two books in such a manner. After years of hunting for books I guess one develops a sort of instinct for the good book.