Today after a roller coaster of emotion I did what always makes the best sense to me - I went in search of books. I have shared this with you before but today I was on a mission - not for me the 3 for 2 book stalls but for me the latter end of the alphabet... Roth, Tyler, Updike and newly Yates.
My dip back into Roth has begun with 'Everyman' - a shortish novel about a man. Whose name is never shared. Or at least has not yet been. So I was keen to explore his body of work once again. Over the weekend I logged his titles into my trusty diary so I can not buy duplicates and see which novels are pure Roth and those which are Zuckerman. I have also this year got into the habit of buying The Observer and the review this weekend talked of a Richard Yates whose work has impressed and indeed is compared to Updike and Roth. I ran this passed a Known Admirer for some critical input. It was greeted with some contempt, undetered I have decided to savour this author for myself and see if Yates does indeed fulfill the Updike Roth league so I can compare notes with AKA and maybe just maybe have a literary meeting of minds. On the way home I go to Waterstones and purchase by Roth 'American Pastoral' and 'Sabbath's Theater' and by Yates, 'Revolutionary Road' and 'A Good School'.
My observation - I am constantly disappointed by book shop assistants. Not for me a friendly smile or an approving look for my selection, instead the clear feeling that I was taking up valuable time and worse had the audacity to wear my soccer hat in the shop. Maybe these people actually resent people buying their books. I fear it may be my danger - though I'd prefer to think I would be heartened to see people consuming great works. I made the distain of said individual worse by requesting a loyalty card - well I spend a fortune on books. There's another reason I'd like my own space - I covet a proper book shelf - or two! So now with worlds to escape too the hardest decision I have is which one do I start with?!
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