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Browsers' Bookstore Newsletter for November, 2006

The big news at Browsers' is that our Albany store was broken into by burglars last week. These intrepid souls rammed their car into the garage door leading to the basement of the store. What they didn't count on, however, is that by breaking the garage door, they could not OPEN it in order to remove our inventory. So, they kicked in a panel, slid in, and unlocked the front door -- making the removal a much riskier undertaking. I've often enjoyed books where the hero is a burglar: he is always intelligent, careful, charming, etc. and enjoys some banter with the police. Fortunately for us, such a criminal does not bother breaking into used bookstores. I suppose this sort of criminal is too smart -- why steal old books when you can steal something worth some real bucks? At any rate, we had some meth addicts stealing some immediately fence-able goods -- DVDs, CDs, computer, recently published fiction. And, rather than stealing our more valuable books, these guys stole some old books from our "to be repaired" shelf. Hahahaha, totally unsaleable to anyone but an old-book nut like myself. But they ALSO stole my George MacDonald slip-cased fantasy set which really pissed me off, because you just don't find that anymore (just some thrashed paperbacks, but it's the principle of the thing.)

The good news is that within three hours of my phone call reporting the break-in to the Albany Police Department, they had arrested five people and recovered all of our property. Needless to say I was very impressed by the effectiveness of the APD!

I was dragged along with the lead investigating officer to the suspects' apartment in order to identify the goods. Easily done. What was really funny, though it would have been sad if I hadn't been so upset at them when I saw that they stole my George MacDonald set (I had not yet realized this act of treachery), was that their apartment was a 10 x 30 room with a grand total of one piece of furniture -- a chair. The rest of the room was completely devoid of furnishings or belongings. Entirely empty, except for the stolen property. So the funny part of the interrogation was hearing the suspects claim they had no idea where all my stuff came from. Now, if you lived in a room that approximated a void, wouldn't you notice several stacks of books, bags of electronic media, and a computer suddenly making an appearance?

The bottom line is: don't do drugs.

NEW ARRIVALS

In a desperate attempt to get the newsletter back to the beginning of the month, we'll just go through a few new arrivals.

In our Corvallis store, is it too early to start thinking of holiday presents?

1. Rough Medicine: Surgeons at Sea in the Age of Sail. Joan Druett. Cool book, great for your favorite doctor, sailor, or historian. $10
2. Vegetarianism: A History. Colin Spencer. This is the second edition of the previously published "The Heretic's Feast." I spent 14 years as a vegetarian, so have some affinity for the subject, but even from an outsider's point of view this is pretty neat, because it covers a lot of history: pre-history, Homer, India, early Christianity, Gnostics, Cathars, Renaissance, and so on. My favorite part is the two-page history of vegetarian cook books! $12.50
3. Jewish Calendar for Soldiers and Sailors. A neat little pocket book for the WWII soldier. The bulk of the book is a blank daily calendar (marked with feasts and holy days), and much of the rest is standard fare. The beginning, however, has some text specific to the Jewish soldier: a prize-winning essay "Why I Fight" written by a young Jewish soldier, and a history (brief) of the Jews in the Wars of the United States which includes statistics indicating that 1940s Jewish boys were more likely to enlist than non-Jews. $10
4. The Anatomy of Nelson's Ships. C. Nepean Longridge. (I'm really in a sailor's mood, I suppose.) All I can say about this one is that it is a must-have for anyone interested in ships. Fold-out diagrams. 70 pages on the rigging for crying out loud. This is for the true connoisseur. $25.
5. The Death of Manolete. Barnaby Conrad. Photographic journal of the great bullfighter's last fight and inevitable death. A little surprising to see photos of the surgeons operating and Manolete's last moments on his death bed. $10
6. Celebrating Wallace Stegner 1909-1993. Video & book of short stories. Memorial video of the great author and environmentalist (before there was such a term.) $25
7. The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics. Omnibus containing seven of Lewis' non-fiction works. $25.

And a few from our Albany store...

8. Ballads. Robert Louis Stevenson. 1890, 1st American edition in very good condition. Curiously enough, the previous owner wrote on the front endpaper "This little volume arrived contemporaneously with a little chipmunk." It's in pencil and can be erased, but I like it. $25
9. Band of Brothers miniseries DVD (6 discs). This actually comes with a copy of a photograph of the real band of brothers, one of whom was a local guy somehow related to the previous owner of this set. $40
10. Particeps Criminis: The Story of a California Rabbit Drive. Ervin Chapman, illustrated by Harry Graydon Partlow. This is one of the most insane books I have seen for a while. It first appears to be a non-fiction story of a true rabbit drive (similar to a cattle drive) including a few photographs. However, there are pen & ink illustrations on every page which is reminiscent of Holling C. Holling (though this predates HCH by a few decades), so then it seems to be a story book for youth. At last, upon closer examination, we discover this book for what it is: a temperance book! Yes, this encourages young bunnies to avoid the evils of rum. A 107-page extended metaphor. Shall I speculate on the author's sobriety when developing the idea of a rabbit drive? $7.00
11. The Moon Pool. A. Merritt. Liveright, 1st thus, 1919. A great "lost race" novel by an author who is claimed both by the modern day science fiction camp and the modern day horror camp. $20

ANNIVERSARY SALE NEWS

You will receive another email this month from us with final details for our upcoming 5th year anniversary sale. My guess is that it will be during Thanksgiving weekend, and that it will be the a 33% discount again. Stay tuned.

FREE STUFF

If anyone wants a dining room table and four chairs for free, please let me know. Not in great shape, but usable. Also, I have two or three old couches. They're on the way to the thrift store soon, so let me know! (These are all in the Albany store. Come by and check them out if you're interested.)

Remember what I was saying about fictional burglars? Browsing through an old book about pirates I find this great quote, "Time, though a good Collector, is not always a reliable Historian. That is to say, that although nothing of interest or importance is lost, yet an affair may be occasionally invested with a glamour that is not wholly its own. I venture to think Piracy has fortuned in this particular." And then, here's another line which brings to mind the reality of our burglars being meth freaks, "They [some other pirates] liked them never the worse for being Pirates, since they were all honest Boys, and loved their Bottles." Where's a rabbit drive when you need one?

Happy reading, and get ready for the sale!

Scott Givens

Browsers' Bookstore
121 NW 4th St.
Corvallis, OR 97330
www.browsersbookstore.com

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