Sobriquet 19.1: Fools!
Though I tend to dislike cities in general and Montreal in particular, I have to admit that, every once in a while, I really enjoy visiting Quebec's island city. You see, though I hate crowds and tall buildings, though I miss seeing long stretches of grass and trees, though I am repulsed by the fashion-overconscious people trotting about the trottoirs of that burg, I must admit, sometimes I really enjoy going to Montreal.
Many people rightfully cite the variety of food one can readily stuff into one's face in Montreal's restaurants as a major draw, and I concur. Few are the cities where you can choose between Lebanese shish taouks, Indian butter chicken, French crepes, American burgers, Spanish Paella, Japanese sushi, and Greek lamb kabobs on any given street, let alone in a mall food court, as one often finds in Montreal.
Other people will tout the clubs, for Montreal is quite the city for heavy drinking and inebriated gyrating. Indeed, Rue Crescent, that little branch off of Ste. Catherine, houses the Hard FRock Cafe and at least a dozen overpriced dance clubs for the Americans looking for a good time, as well as several other, evidentially exclusive, booty-shaking establishments just by itself.
And yes, Montreal is a wonderful place to go shopping. There're lots of chic boutiques in which one might waste money. There're also countless sex shops and strip clubs to keep the priapic elements in Quebecois society satiated.
But I don't really go for the gyrating and puking of Rue Crescent, nor do I visit the chic stores or sex shops or strip clubs. No, in suitably nerdy fashion, I delight in Montreal's book stores. There's The Word Book Store near McGill University, where I can usually find inexpensive, yet relatively elusive used books. Then there's Argo Books, a tiny hole-in-the wall about the size of a professor's office, positively filled with the sort of high-quality literature you rarely find in Barnes & Noble or other such stores. I mean, there's plenty of Gaddis, Coover, Gass, Celine, and Banville to pick from when other stores might, on a lucky day, have one or two such offerings. Save for Metro Video, an equally tiny DVD store in the underground city with a huge classics section, Argo is my favorite store in Canada for just that reason. When no one else had Richard Farina's Been Down So Long, It All Looks Up to Me, you better believe Argo had multiple copies...Anyway, a little ways past Argo on Ste. Catherine, there's a used book store called Vortex. It's a nice little place to find anything from old pulp books to philosophy or Canadiana, and the folks running the shop tend to be knowledgable and gregarious, making the visit that much more interesting.
So, to cut to the chase, I walked into Vortex a few days ago, and facing out at me from a shelf about eye-level, was a first-edition paperback of William Gaddis's wonderful JR. It was ten dollars, Canadian. Collectors regularly shell out upwards of $75.00 for an edition as well-kept as the one I found. It's mine now. God, what beautiful artwork, too. I love Janet Halverson's use of currency as a model for the lettering:
Speaking of William Gaddis, I found a first paperback edition of The Recognitions earlier today. Literally found it. There're a few places around campus where people leave unwanted books for students and faculty to pick up. In one such location, I found said tome, perfect save for a ninety-nine cent sticker affixed to the upper right-hand corner of the cover. This too sells for $75.00.
Fools! That's around a hundred and forty dollars I picked up after the initial investment! I feel a bit like JR himself...
Now, here's the thing about Gaddis that makes finds like this pretty easy: no one reads Gaddis. Well, a few people do. This fellow Owen, for instance, and a professor of mine have read him, buf not too many others. Gaddis scares people. I mean, superficially, a 726-page book of unbroken, unattributed speech seems daunting as hell. That is, until you start reading. Try it and see.
I remember reading Jonathan Franzen's New Yorker piece on Gaddis, when he recalls finding copies of JR, spines invariably unbroken, in used bookstores all over New York. The copy I found fits the bill. It opens to about page 17, before the leaves stiffen and seem unturned...the same goes for the copy of The Recognitions.
Sad. My good fortune reminds me of Gaddis's ill-fortune. I found these books because no one wanted to read them. What fools! Gaddis is a beautiful writer, and these are beautiful masterworks.
(Aside: Yes, I realize that collecting things is essentially pointless. Placing high monetary value on baseball cards or books or autographs is arbitrary and, in the end, utterly silly. I mean, really, is a copy of JR worth more than a week's worth of food for a family in Chad? But don't let's start on money...)
I'll read him. Someone else can weep over the money.
A Quote:
"I have ever hated all nations, professions, and communities, and all my love is towards individuals...I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas, and so forth..."
-Jonathan Swift
Technorati Tag: gaddis
Many people rightfully cite the variety of food one can readily stuff into one's face in Montreal's restaurants as a major draw, and I concur. Few are the cities where you can choose between Lebanese shish taouks, Indian butter chicken, French crepes, American burgers, Spanish Paella, Japanese sushi, and Greek lamb kabobs on any given street, let alone in a mall food court, as one often finds in Montreal.
Other people will tout the clubs, for Montreal is quite the city for heavy drinking and inebriated gyrating. Indeed, Rue Crescent, that little branch off of Ste. Catherine, houses the Hard FRock Cafe and at least a dozen overpriced dance clubs for the Americans looking for a good time, as well as several other, evidentially exclusive, booty-shaking establishments just by itself.
And yes, Montreal is a wonderful place to go shopping. There're lots of chic boutiques in which one might waste money. There're also countless sex shops and strip clubs to keep the priapic elements in Quebecois society satiated.
But I don't really go for the gyrating and puking of Rue Crescent, nor do I visit the chic stores or sex shops or strip clubs. No, in suitably nerdy fashion, I delight in Montreal's book stores. There's The Word Book Store near McGill University, where I can usually find inexpensive, yet relatively elusive used books. Then there's Argo Books, a tiny hole-in-the wall about the size of a professor's office, positively filled with the sort of high-quality literature you rarely find in Barnes & Noble or other such stores. I mean, there's plenty of Gaddis, Coover, Gass, Celine, and Banville to pick from when other stores might, on a lucky day, have one or two such offerings. Save for Metro Video, an equally tiny DVD store in the underground city with a huge classics section, Argo is my favorite store in Canada for just that reason. When no one else had Richard Farina's Been Down So Long, It All Looks Up to Me, you better believe Argo had multiple copies...Anyway, a little ways past Argo on Ste. Catherine, there's a used book store called Vortex. It's a nice little place to find anything from old pulp books to philosophy or Canadiana, and the folks running the shop tend to be knowledgable and gregarious, making the visit that much more interesting.
So, to cut to the chase, I walked into Vortex a few days ago, and facing out at me from a shelf about eye-level, was a first-edition paperback of William Gaddis's wonderful JR. It was ten dollars, Canadian. Collectors regularly shell out upwards of $75.00 for an edition as well-kept as the one I found. It's mine now. God, what beautiful artwork, too. I love Janet Halverson's use of currency as a model for the lettering:
Speaking of William Gaddis, I found a first paperback edition of The Recognitions earlier today. Literally found it. There're a few places around campus where people leave unwanted books for students and faculty to pick up. In one such location, I found said tome, perfect save for a ninety-nine cent sticker affixed to the upper right-hand corner of the cover. This too sells for $75.00.
Fools! That's around a hundred and forty dollars I picked up after the initial investment! I feel a bit like JR himself...
Now, here's the thing about Gaddis that makes finds like this pretty easy: no one reads Gaddis. Well, a few people do. This fellow Owen, for instance, and a professor of mine have read him, buf not too many others. Gaddis scares people. I mean, superficially, a 726-page book of unbroken, unattributed speech seems daunting as hell. That is, until you start reading. Try it and see.
I remember reading Jonathan Franzen's New Yorker piece on Gaddis, when he recalls finding copies of JR, spines invariably unbroken, in used bookstores all over New York. The copy I found fits the bill. It opens to about page 17, before the leaves stiffen and seem unturned...the same goes for the copy of The Recognitions.
Sad. My good fortune reminds me of Gaddis's ill-fortune. I found these books because no one wanted to read them. What fools! Gaddis is a beautiful writer, and these are beautiful masterworks.
(Aside: Yes, I realize that collecting things is essentially pointless. Placing high monetary value on baseball cards or books or autographs is arbitrary and, in the end, utterly silly. I mean, really, is a copy of JR worth more than a week's worth of food for a family in Chad? But don't let's start on money...)
I'll read him. Someone else can weep over the money.
A Quote:
"I have ever hated all nations, professions, and communities, and all my love is towards individuals...I hate and detest the animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas, and so forth..."
-Jonathan Swift
Technorati Tag: gaddis
Comments
Post a Comment