I just
finished a book called, “One
more thing.” It is a book of life
stories by Peter Falk, A.K.A. Colombo
He has had
an interesting life, but nothing I would care for. By book’s end I had a pretty good idea what
the man was like.
Having just
said that, it made me wonder what ideas and opinions are formed about me, based
solely upon my writings. My goodness,
just thinking back over my ramblings and some of the topics I have selected,
I’d tag me as someone walking about with loose bandages and frayed wires.
Then again,
with assessments based entirely upon literary blatherings, one could read
Jabberwocky and demand Lewis Carol be shot and his widow charged for the
ammunition.
My latest
plunge is into a book called, The Other Shulman, by Alan Zweibel. Too soon for any opinions, but I am sorry I
read the Internet reviews first. I’ll
avoid doing that in the future. It’s one
thing to form an opinion about someone I’ve never met, but to color it with
pedestrian assessments from the Internet…
How tacky is that?
Cutting to
the chase, the topic of this Sunday Morning, as you may have guessed, is
impressions, first or otherwise.
I walked
into the Rochester Hills Public Library armed with the little note I had
written to myself. That note was the
name of the book, The Other Shulman, and the correct spelling of the author’s
name, Alan Zweibel.
To get to
the Reference Desk I had to walk through the main lobby to the stairs leading
to the second level. As I started to
climb the stairs I noticed immediately to my right, a tall, well-dressed lady
staring blankly into the window of the gift shop. Yes, the library has a gift shop. I don’t understand it either.
Anyway,
something told me that this lady was not checking out anything in the window
but was just trying hard to look as if she was, but I could see her looking out
of the corner of her eye looking at me ascending the steps. A couple more stairs and the thought had left
my mind.
Once at the
Reference Desk I held my note out and asked where I might find this book. The Reference Librarian looked it up and then
stood up. She handed my note back to me
and explained that the books were organized according to the author’s last
name. “Because his last name starts with
a Z, she said, this book would be in the very last row, against the far back
wall, and would probably be along the bottom shelf. If the carpet looks brand new, you’re in the
right spot.”
Obviously
not a well-traveled aisle. I headed
towards my destination, looking forward to finding The Other Shulman. Much to my surprise, as I was scanning the
bottom shelf, the tall lady from the gift shop window came walking around the
far end of the same aisle.
I was a bit
startled thinking how strange is that? I
mean, what are the odds that someone else at the very same moment, someone who
made sure I had seen her moments ago down stairs would also be going to the
most remote corner of the library? If
she was some kind of nut-job, then getting away from her as fast as I could was
in order.
I found Mr.
Shulman, grabbed his jacket and headed for the stairs, thinking now that just
maybe I was the one being scrutinized and assessed. It’s all together possible that I looked
shifty, or suspicious, and if this lady was with the library police then
keeping a close watch on me was the right thing to do.
One more thing, when
I finish this book I have to return it to the library. In the event I am abducted, accused, placed
in a line-up or simply disappear without a trace, I expect the readership of this blog to form a posse,
raise funds, and falling short of vouching for my character, simply assume my
innocence. And remember; be generous when writing Internet reviews.
Note: The above was
written several years ago and I can’t remember what the book was all about,
however, if you are looking for a great book, search for; Here Comes Trouble, by Michael Moore.
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