November 2008

I was standing in HearthFire Books in Evergreen, CO looking at the books on the Indie Top 10 bookshelf (these fly off the shelves at HearthFire) when a woman picked up Indignation by Philip Roth.  I told her about a review written by a friend and she said she went to Weequahic High School in Newark, NJ with Philip Roth.  Dirt potential!  Alas, they attended different middle schools so they ‘ran in different crowds.’  She remembered him as an aloof boy.  None of her friends could recall anything memorable.  I specifically asked if he was arrogant (because it is a trait associated with him), she answered not that she was aware.  What she did enjoy was reading about her childhood in so many of Mr. Roth’s books.  They lived in the same neighborhood and shared the same issues at the same time in history.  She described her upbringing as nothing spectacular, just middle class Jewish families trying to get by during the World War II and post-World War II era, but that the Roth books brought so much of it back to her.  Talking with her reminded me of the quote that a writer only needs to experience the first 15 years of his life and he has enough material for a lifetime of writing.  This classmate of Philip Roth enjoyed reliving aspects of those years in her life through his eyes, especially in Portnay’s Complaint, American Pastoral and The Plot Against America (love that book).  From all that I’ve heard, she may find Indignation familiar also.

After this near brush with literary greatness, I meandered around HeartFire

Isn't it lovely?

Books.  It was raining to almost snowing outside, making the roaring fireplace with rocking chairs all that more inviting.  The store is physically divided in half, with adult books on the entrance side and children and young adult books up a few stairs in the other half.  It is in this second section that the store really shines.

I visited with my girlfriend and fellow bookstore Read the rest of this entry »