*A Collection of
Antiquarian Curios & Relics*
"A small
and sinister snow seems to be coming down relentlessly at present. The
radio says
it is eventually
going to be sleet and rain, but I don't think so; I think it is just going
to go on and on,
coming down, until the whole world . . . etc. It has that look . .
."
--E. Gorey, Floating Worlds
(9780764959479) 35.00
ICE
STATION GIRAFFE
It is so cold. Using
metaphors and similes, I could go into a long winded description of just how
cold it really is, but I just don't have the energy to even try. Suffice
it to say, it is cold. For over six months, I have been trapped at this
U.S. Navy listening post near Whitefish Point in a little igloo-like
building. The food has run out, but I have learned to fish, and for
water, I melt snow. There's certainly plenty of that lying around.
Also, the fuel oil for the furnace is running low, so I've dialed down the
furnace to about 40 degrees. But that's still absolutely balmy.
Who am I listening for? Or
to? The Chinese I suppose. Maybe the Russians. I'm not sure
why either one would covet this arctic wasteland that was once known as
America. After 'The Big Mistake of '15', the Earth's axis tilted and
we've been subjected to an ice age to end all ice ages. I heard it had
something to do with the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. I could be
wrong tho'.
Since the radio stopped working,
my only companions have been a cache of books that I found in the storage
room. Books make good company. I just finished The Sixth
Extinction: An Unnatural History (9780805092998) 28.00 by Elizabeth
Kolbert, in which she posits that Manunkind will be responsible for the
greatest extinction of life on our planet. In the last half billion
years, there have been five mass extinctions, but they were child's play
compared to the one we've begun.
Hang on. I hear
somebody banging on the door. It could be the rescue submarine. But
more likely it's the Chinese saboteurs who tore down my radio antenna. I
grab my rifle. Of course the banging stops as soon as I get to the
airtight door. Weird. It's like they can see me somehow.
Back to the books. I'm not
sure if it's coincidence or maybe irony, but someone left behind a copy of Disney's
Frozen Big Golden Book (9780736430654) 9.99. I think the Snow
Queen Elsa would be right at home here. My favorite book in this icy
prison has been Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened (9780425261019)
16.00. I've probably re-read it at least ten times now. She makes
me laugh and not much else does these days. I especially like to linger
on the sections about her childhood days in Texas. Her particulars on the
oppressive heat in her rural home was downright delicious.
Wait! There's that damn
pounding on the door again! That's it, I'm done. I snatch my pistol from
the table, run toward the door, and nearly trip over my still unread copy of
Herman Melville's Moby Dick (9780553213119) 4.95. I fling the door
open; there's a gust of wind, and every inch of exposed skin stings with
cold. No one's there. There are no tracks. They must be
hiding. But they aren't getting away this time. I run out into the
whiteness. I run and I run until the cold embraces me securely like a
soft mother's hug. Finally, winded, I lay down to rest.
Odds
& Sods
Mazel tov!
Robert Kopman and Bil Yanok, the people who brought you the 30 Minute Seder
(9780979125607) 6.95 have returned with the 60 Minute Seder (9780979125676)
10.95. The Seder is a traditional Jewish Passover dinner in which the Haggadah
is read by the attendees before the meal. Which reminds me, Jonathan
Foer's New American Haggadah (9780316069878) 10.95 will soon be
available in a snappy new trade edition . . .
Marissa Meyer
stopped in yesterday and signed all three of her titles in the Lunar
Chronicles, including Cinder (9781250007209) 9.99, Scarlet (9781250007216)
9.99, and the latest one, Cress (9780312642976) 18.99.
First come,
first served.
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