The Sunday Haul

Patience has its own rewards. There is a saying that everything comes to those who wait. After waiting for many years I at last found two books I’ve been looking for. I have been on the lookout for a good copy of Nirad C.Chaudhuri’s ‘Autobiography of An Unknown Indian’ for as long as I remember. Of course I’ve come across many copies of this book at Abids but they were either in a bad condition or unappealing to me in some way. Since I knew from experience that I’d come across a good enough copy sooner or later I had no option but wait for such a thing to happen. Last Sunday it happened.

When Uma told me he had seen a good book on screenwriting I decided to check it out. Right next to the book on screenwriting was a beautiful edition of ‘Autobiography of An Unknown Indian’ which did not come cheap. I paid the two hundred rupees the seller asked for it because it was one of a limited collector’s edition of 1000 numbered copies brought out to commemorate the author’s 100th birthday. However I couldn’t find anywhere on the book which of the 1000 copies my copy was. I was pleased no end having got the hardcover copy in pristine condition with dust jacket intact and the only thing left is to find the time to read it. Another similar find was Somerset Maugham’s ‘The Razor’s Edge’ that I have been looking for since long. At Chikkadpally I found a good copy, a Mandarin edition that I got for only fifty rupees.

However, another find of the day was the scriptwriting book that Uma had spotted earlier. It did cost a bomb but I guess ‘Writing Movies’ by Gotham Writers Workshop that I picked up is worth it. Someday after I finish my scripts I hope to recover many times what I paid for all the script writing books I have bought so far in the hope of writing a movie. I have a half completed script for an action movie that I am dreaming of selling to one of those hotshot young actors who might go for the hero’s character in my story and also pay me enough let me quit this job. Ha ha.

FRANKFURT BOOKS’ NEW BRANCH

Frankfurt Books, the itinerant secondhand book store now in Begumpet since a couple of years has another branch that opened recently near Liberty. It is located on the left side of the road leading to the GHMC offices at the Liberty traffic signal. I happened to drop in there for a quick visit and spotted nothing interesting. The collection is too small and nowhere near the vast and staggering collection of books at the Begumpet store.