Picking Up A Couple More ...

Could it be that when it rains books it pours? I don’t know, but after just getting all those gun books last weekend I was stunned almost to speechlessness (and I am rarely lacking for words) by what happened Saturday. As I mentioned some time ago, we lost our picker last year because he decided to quit the book scouting game in favor of agriculture. I don’t think he’s changed his mind, so the sight of him bearing eight banker’s boxes filled with books was akin to Scrooge being jolted by the vision of Marley. But stunning as this surprise appearance was, the whole thing only gets even more astounding. We took the lids off the boxes to reveal – ta-da! --GUN BOOKS! Lots and lots of gun books – in fact, so many gun books that they account for three-quarters of the lot. And get this – the rest of the books are about swords. It would appear that at this moment weapons R me.

You know I love gun books, but really, this is too crazy a coincidence. He’s brought gun books before from time to time, but never in such great quantity. His bailiwick has always been Civil War history, art, unusual cookbooks, and theater which is why I’m so fixated on this. In the good old days he came only once a year, but when he did the air swelled with the sound of carols – “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas ….”

Not only were the books GREAT, but there were at least three times as many as he brought this time. We always referred to them as “the 28 boxes” though the figure varied a few boxes either way every year. Sometimes he would even show up a second time in the same year, but you could always count on him in the fall like apples, pumpkins and trick or treat. As much as I would like to think he’s back I doubt very much that he really is. He hadn’t even  been scouting for these – he’d just chanced on them and decided to give it a go for old time’s sake. The best I can hope for is that he’ll chance on some more somewhere down the line. I know he knows how much we appreciate him, so that alone might spur him on during the off-season in agriculture.

Anyway, I spent Saturday evening sorting through the offerings and spotted many titles I’d had in the past and could easily reactivate. The difference between this bunch of gun books and those from last week is that these are much newer. Last week’s were the golden oldies – these are as slick and shiny as an oil spill which means they must either be sold in the store or online. To my amazement, the prices had not only held on most, but in a few cases had even escalated, so it looks like most of them will go online. Though it’s all good, I find myself wishing again for a seasoned picker. Someone else tried to do it for us awhile back, but didn’t have the knack no matter how many times I explained it all. Yes, I could have gotten him a scanner, but I am not going to surreptitiously do the very thing I rail about even if I’m not the one wielding it. What I want is a seasoned scout like the newly minted farmer. He takes one look at a book, sizes it up, and there are very few duds. In fact, he even segregates what he considers acceptable, but not faint worthy, in a separate box and charges less for those.

The sad fact is the seasoned picker may well be a thing of the past, an iconic image of bookselling in the Golden Age. At this juncture I’m grateful to have even known the joy of having had a picker -- which of course doesn't mean I've given up on revitalizing him!