Nerd Alert

A few months ago I was walking back to work from the post office and saw a book in the window of a consignment shop. I don't know what drew me to it, but I went in to check it out anyway. Turns out it was a hard over copy of Wuthering Heights circa 1943. I've never read the book but another urge engulfed me and I asked how much it was. $1.35. Sold.

As I walked back to work, I thumbed through the pages and observed the cover. The nostalgia of a book that was 65+ years old wasn't the only thing that intrigued me. What got me was the fact that I had, in my hand, a book that so many people before me had enjoyed; both physically in the book that I was holding and in the words Emily Bronte wrote so long ago. A classic. After examining every angle of the book, I concluded that I liked the spine the best. It looked vintage, a little worn, but charming. It was then that I decided I'd collect classic books to outfit my new bookshelf (that I bought for $30, thank you Sarah!).

It wasn't until this past weekend that I'd found some more books to add to my collection. At a used bookstore in downtown San Luis, I picked up "A Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (1960)" and "Here Lies Dorothy Parker (1939)." I got the Emily Dickinson book for obvious reasons, but the Dorothy Parker book was my true golden find. She was an author/poet in the early 20th century and a woman of my own heart. Smart, witty, and a man-hater. Love. I learned about her in my Women in Literature summer school class at Chico State and had been itching to get my hands on more of her work ever since. The hardcover book I got is only a collection of her short stories, but I picked up a paperback of a collection of her poems and stories at the used bookstore as well. I can't wait to thumb through and learn more about this literary hero of mine.

"I shall stay the way I am because I don't give a damn."
- Dorothy Parker