The Life of a Book

I’ve always wondered about this. Some spend their entire existence jammed onto a shelf. Kristie will be the first to tell you that I have a large collection of books that I have never, and likely will never, read (Crime and Punishment – though, out of spite, I am attempting to read it now, The Sound and the Fury, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities (Okay, pretty much every single book by Dickens), Others burn out quickly – from either abuse or constant use. My copy of The Catcher in the Rye has most certainly seen better days and last I saw was missing most of the cover. I have no idea where my trusted old copy of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is.

In a famous episode of Seinfeld, George breaks up with his girlfriend. However, he forgot some books over at her apartment. Fearing a bout of make up sex, he asks Jerry to go over and get his books. This completely baffles Jerry. “So?” Jerry says to George. “I don’t understand people’s obsession with books. Have you read them?”

“Yeah,” George replies.

“Then what do you need them for?”

“They’re books. They’re mine!”

“But you’ve read them. You know what’s funny. The second time you read Moby Dick, Ahab and the whale become really good friends!”


This is a common struggle for book people. Kristie treasures books. Let’s just say if I grabbed some of her beloved Stephen King collection and brought them to school for SSR – it wouldn’t be good. On the other hand, I’ve known professors and teachers over the years who gladly loan books out, knowing full well they may never return.

I’m somewhere in between these two. A few months ago, we were over visiting Lon and Sara. Lon was showing me something upstairs when I saw one of my old books in his cabinet. “Hey, that’s mine!” I exclaimed. I left it there, but I felt reassured that I knew where it was and that it was safe. Last year I had a student who rarely said a word but was a voracious reader. In one of his journals he wrote about his love of horror novels, so I loaned him several of my favorites. He returned a few but then moved away over the summer. Those books are gone forever. But maybe they are being put to use rather than just sitting on my shelf.

Yesterday I had a former student show up looking for some help with a speech. I wanted to give him a copy of a chapter from Tom Romano’s “Crafting Authentic Voice.” However, I cannot find it. Here is where I become a lot like Kristie. Now I’m obsessed with finding that book. I usually keep it on a table next to my desk. But I brought it home while writing my McEssay paper. Now it’s disappeared. I scoured the house last night. I scoured my classroom this morning. I gave my car a good once over. No luck.

I don’t even want to think of all the hours I’ve spent searching for books. Do I ever read them cover to cover again when I find them? No. But I like knowing where they are.

Which reminds me, maybe I left it in the copy room . . .