The bookstore is everywhere

In Roger Dodger, Scott Campbell's character advises his charge that sex is everywhere, and that you merely must look around. While I have cannot confirm this assertion, I can say that good books will come your way if you keep your eyes open. I am in the habit of stopping into the NE Broadway Goodwill on my walk to my car. On my last visit I found Rick Perlstein's Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus. The woman behind me in line let out a gleeful shriek and said she loved Barry Goldwater. Rather than getting into a debate on his merits, I complimented her choice of Shutter Island and the Club Dumas. On my prior visit, I managed to find a copy of Manhunt, the story of the Lincoln assassination and the subsequent hunt for the killer.

I was even more surprised to spot the classic Korean war account, This Kind of War, while standing in line at Safeway. The book was sitting on the Easter Seals fund raising table. Most of the time, you will find romance novels, Agatha Christie paperbacks and assorted popular fiction. But every once and again, a gem will be amongst the dross.

Of course the best place to find a good read is your friend's bookshelves. Just watch out if they write their names on the front page. Those folks get testy if you don't return them lickety split.