The Sunday Haul (on 24-03-2019)

As usual the surprises at the Sunday book bazaar in Abids never seem to cease. Last Sunday I got another pleasant surprise. About a year or more ago I had read about James Salter in some newspaper column about food, and shortly afterwards I had found a copy of his ‘A Sport and a Pastime’ that I read immediately afterwards. Later again I found a copy of his autobiography ‘Burning the Days’ in a second hand book store not very long ago. I began 2019 by making ‘Burning the Days’ the first book I read. It was so good that it made me eager to read his other titles but I couldn’t find any of them until last Sunday.

The first book I found last Sunday at Abids was a beautiful copy of ‘Light Years’ by James Salter. I let out a silent whoop on spotting it and bought it right away. I got it for only fifty rupees. It was one joyful moment finding the book and later when I checked the reviews online I found Jhumpa Lahiri’s essay published in the Paris Review in 2015 where she writes that she read the book when she was eighteen and reread it many times over the years.

The next find was yet another copy of ‘On Writing’ by Stephen King that I found with a seller near the General Post Office. Over the years I have found so many copies of this wonderful book that I have lost count. I have also given away so many copies of it that I have also lost count of the number of people I gave it to. One of the times I posted about finding a copy someone on the blog wondered why he never seemed to find a copy at Abids. So friend, if you are reading this then this copy is for you.

Right beside the copy of ‘On Writing’ that I bought I saw a book with a bright red cover with ‘Copy-editing’ by Judith Butcher on the cover. Being someone very interested in the writing business I bought this book along with Stephen King’s book. Both cost me a hundred and fifty rupees.

The last find was a copy of ‘The Mirror’ with a fantastic painting on the cover. It turned out to be a magazine published in December, 1961. For something published nearly six decades ago it was in a very good condition. Apart from the wonderful cover the other reason I picked up this magazine was the advertisements for Cadbury’s chocolates, Tata Benz trucks, Hotel Ashoka, Fiat cars in the inside pages. The contents are on the back page where the price of the magazine is also mentioned- 50 np! This is an Eve’s Weekly publication. I am wondering if this is some kind of a treasure that I’ve found.