Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Some Days You Feel Like a Nut....

I was in Barnes & Noble this evening when a man and woman began making one of the biggest scenes I've ever seen in public. They shouted at each other and at the store manager, cussing and calling names and demanding to receive the customer service to which they were entitled. At one point, the store manager politely asked them to leave, and they dared him to try to make them. "We'll sue you for false arrest!" the woman roared.

My dear friend Dee Ready once said of someone who was behaving abominably, "He's new here. Hasn't been through many lives yet and doesn't know the ropes."

Maybe these folks were on their first swing through the oxygen-rich atmosphere of Mother Earth. Perhaps after another cycle or two, they'll be better prepared for life's little disappointments.

Speaking of which, I went to B&N in search of Inventing the Truth, The Art and Craft of Memoir, by William Zinsser. Crescent Dragonwagon, a writer, teacher, and former Arkansawyer now living in Vermont, recommended the book in response to a comment I made on her new blog, Nothing Is Wasted on the Writer.

I've followed Crescent's work and life for quite a while now and was delighted to find her blog. I love the way she leaps from one thought to another and then circles back to tie the whole piece together with filaments as fine as spiderweb and just as strong and beautiful. If you don't know her cookbook, The Passionate Vegetarian, you should. Even if you're not vegetarian (and I'm not totally, I simply don't care much for meat or for what its production does to the planet), you're bound to find treasures among its 1120 pages. And then there are the stories of her life, which she weaves into the text. Delicious.

I'm anxious to read her new cookbook, The Cornbread Gospels, both for the recipes and the new stories.

Anyway, I didn't find Zinsser's book at B&N. Guess I'll have to order it online. Oh dear. I feel an order-fest coming on. Perhaps someone should complain to my manager.

6 comments:

Deb Shucka said...

Now you've done it! Between you and Carrie I'm going to be busy online this morning. My only complaint is that my book piles are already tippy and invasive. Where am I going to start another one?

fullsoulahead.com said...

I'm sure you jotted down the rich dialogue for future use, right?

Jerri said...

Caught me, Michelle. I sure did. Have the index cards in my back pocket right now!

mamatulip said...

It never ceases to amaze me what people will do in public, and how they'll treat others in front of people.

Carrie Wilson Link said...

OMG - MORE books for my list? OK.

Will there ever be a day I have read the whole pile and stop the madness? Probably not.

Jess said...

Yeah, really the book piles do get big. But I love your posts about books and bookstores. I always imagine myself at B&N with you...