Drooling Dreams Of Book-Buying

The woman I'm staying with until my apartment is ready (I'll call her "Shanghai" in this blog) made a stunning announcement last night: She's going to the United States next month, and she has vowed that she's going to spend $500 on books! She'll buy books then mail them to herself here in Korea. 500 bucks! You go, girl!

This sum sounded like it would translate into a mountain of books, but then Shanghai and I got out the calculator and did the math. If every book she bought was around 15 bucks, she could buy 33 books for $495. Now, thirty-three's a lot, but it's not a mountain. As she pointed out, "At one book a week, that would only last me about 8 months." She was allowing for a couple of more books to make it an even 35, because she said she didn't mind going a little bit over $500. Damn, me neither...if it were my $500, I mean.

The thought of Shanghai's book quest made my head swim and my resolve firm. I, too, will return to the US one day and allow hundreds of dollars for book shopping. I'll go armed with a list. I'll sprawl on the floor of the biography section, eyes upward, mouth slack and just let all the book covers and their titles wash over me. I'll go to every used bookstore in my path and breathe in the scent of old glue and paper until I'm intoxicated. I'll buy books in a fever till the money's gone, mail them to myself in Korea, then approximately 6 weeks to 2 months later, I'll open up my packages, completely and utterly happy.