Wednesday, October 19, 2011

In A Bubble Looking Out

It’s six-thirty a.m. as I write this and a steady rain drums the roof. The sun isn’t up yet, but it’s clear the sort of day it will be – dark and rainy, a day to spend, ideally, reading by the fire. I woke at four-thirty, so got up, made some coffee and a pumpkin bagel and finished reading The Paris Wife, the story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson. I had assiduously ignored this book even though the author, Paula McClain, is from Cleveland and I have always been enamored of the Lost Generation. But it’s precisely my interest in the topic and the sheer volume of books I’ve read about it that made me recoil from a fictionalized account. In the end though I’m glad I capitulated – it’s masterful.

Last night I went to dinner at the Asian bistro uptown on the square with my friend Jessica (Thai curry with chicken and red sauce) which turned out to be a rather merry event. It’s good to look in the mirror at my dressed up self once in awhile just to know that that verrsion of me still hangs around on the periphery. But there will be no dressing up today and certainly no lingering over wine. I’m gearing up as we speak for a whirlwind of activity. First, we’re going to avail ourselves of early voting around noon and then hit the antiques mall with the weeks’s new offerings before heading off to the fourth book sale in a week’s time. This one is rather far away, so the crazies don’t infiltrate, a fact which in itself makes it worth the trip.

My history with this sale borders on both the neurotic and the mythical. Every year when it rolls around a bubble of optimism forms around me, shimmering in shades of iridescent pink and gold. That is, until I get real and remember that only ONCE was it ever magical. Most of the time it’s so-so and a few times it’s been downright wretched. But one year, maybe four or five years ago, I hauled home so many treasures it’s permanently engraved on my psyche -- angling books, one of which sold for $375, New York fashion catalogs from the 1920’s, the ENTIRE SET of Nancy Drew books from the 60’s, an innocuous-looking book about the Beach Boys that sold for $75 -- and that’s just what I can remember. Last year I didn’t go because it coincided with a NOBS board meeting and I responded (at least I like to think so) to my higher angels in making the choice. But if I’m totally honest about it, the reason I bring that up now is to remind the book gods that past goodness deserves a reward tonight. Yeah, I know, bad karma. But there you have it.

Of course they say that lightning never strikes the same place twice anyway. When it comes to buying books I honestly do think it’s true. It reminds me of this antiques mall in Toledo we used to stop at on the way home from Michigan when we visited out oldest daughter and her family. The first time we went I bought half a dozen books so astounding I thought for sure I’d hit the mother lode of literature. As it turned out, I didn’t discover dirt, much less gold. We bought many books there until it closed, but never again did I get one even half as good as any from that first time. So the fact is, I’m more than likely going to crash and burn tonight.

But until I do, the view from the bubble remains dangerously rosy.

P.S. Photo below of Hadley Richardson Hemingway from Carlos Bakers' Hemingway biography as per comment to post.

3 comments:

Cheryl said...

When we visited the Hemingway museum in Oak Park in June I hunted for a picture of Hadley. I'd often seen pics of the later wives. I wish I had taken a pic of the pic so I could recall her face. I can recall the chubby baby Bumby better.

tess said...

I think there's a picture of her in Carlos Baker's Hemingway biography. I have a copy and will see if I can find it. I'll show it to you when we go to lunch. I'm sure she's somewhere in all these books I have on the subject! I remember Bumby too, but I also have a fuzzy recollection of Hadley.

tess said...

I am just about to add a photo of Hadley and Ernest when they were first married,