dailyprompt

The Mob I mean Book Club

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A bookshelf in the abbey of waldsassen in Bavaria,Germany. This library was built in the rococo architectural style between 1824-26

I was managing a bookstore the year that Oprah Winfrey started her book club.

All of the sudden we had Oprah fans flooding into our stores the minute she announced her pick, and for the most part we were able to fill the orders.

But then Oprah’s club took on epic proportions and everyone from the publishers to the carriers to the sellers had to adjust- but hey that was our job.

What was NOT my job was to stand there and be told I was…that’s right me because I represented the company of course- an idiot for not realizing how IMPORTANT this book(s )were.

Why wasn’t it in stock in large quantities ALL of the time?

This book, as recommended by Oprah was the finest in literature…it was important. What kind of bookstore were we?

Then came the sticker shock because I think that a lot of Oprah fans had not purchased book for a very long time and $12.00 for a trade paperback was expensive. Some of Oprah’s fans even thought we were price gouging them.

It came to the point that when I heard a new Oprah pick was going to be announced, I took the next few days off so I wouldn’t have to be in the store when her fans showed up.

To this day I will argue that Oprah’s picks were just that. They were her picks. They tickled her fancy. They entertained her fans and made them feel like they were part of a  well informed club.

As Oprah’s picks rolled out,  I would look at those boxes and think those books were flying off the shelves because Oprah TOLD them to fly off the shelves and they did.

I know it was good that people were reading, because who knew that years later that books and the stores that sold them would become somewhat obsolete.

I just don’t think those books were exactly top shelf literature.

But don’t take my word for it.

I’m a Stephen King fan.

 

 

Taffy’s Ice Cream Shop

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WP Prompt: Who are some underrated people in history?

She was walking out of an ice cream shop called Taffy’s at Fremont Mall. I saw her for a second, maybe two, As she walked by me   she looked up at me from her overstuffed waffle cone she smiled and that night  I was inspired to write a story about a serial killer-she was the killer.

Such quiet and brief encounters have filled works in  art galleries, libraries and concert halls since the beginning of our time.

Those people, these brief encounters have provided the spark that led to a creative fire in the imagination of writers and artists are most part nameless, forgotten

it’s a shame really.

The Bare Bones

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Gertrude Abercrombie, Pink Carnations, 1939

One day

my brother and I were talking about the stuff we had accumulated over our lives.  In my case that would be my guitars, books, Halloween decorations, some artwork my collection of Pez Dispensers and my Gargoyle collection.

My Brother looked at me the way our Dad did when he caught me being a world class idiot and he said, ” you know, you should get rid of stuff that doesn’t really matter.

” Like what” I asked him. ” which of my treasures should I get rid of first?”

” Well. Those Pez things are junk and do you need all of those books? Be real,  you know that you CAN  happily exist without  a gargoyle collection. ”

I pictured myself in a coffin, wearing a dress I didn’t like, which would be ok because it’s dark in there.  I saw the pictured myself covered with dust and mold and I also  pictured my brother digging me up, prying open my coffin lid and looking down at me with that same look our Dad used to give me when he caught me being a world class idiot ( which was often ) and saying…

” Anita. Did you REALLY need to take this with you to your grave? REALLY?

“Yes,”I’d say as I worked open my rotting jaw to answer him.

Absolutely.

Yes”

The Heart Beat

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Artist Unknown

Daily writing prompt : What’s a thing you were completely obsessed with as a kid?

I don’t remember when it was that I first  saw the movie ( maybe ) or heard the Poe’s ” Tell Tale Heart ” but I remember crawling under my sister’s crib when I was about 5 years old and I remember pressing my ear to the floor because I was looking, I was listening for the sound of a heart that I was positive was beating under the floor boards.

I also remember checking the floor in my closet, and the walls in our  unfinished attic when I was about 6 years old.

When I was feeling brave I’d even go down to our basement and stand in the middle of a little room that had once housed a coal bin.

As I got older and my imagination became more, how shall I put it- more rich and creative the sound of a beating heart was the scariest sound in the world to me. It was scarier then the sound of ghosts wailing in the night and footsteps creaking up the stairs to my bedroom.

I’m not sure how I became aware of Poe’s story, but I understood it before I could read a word.

“The TellTale Heart” is a short Gothic horror story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. The story is narrated by an unnamed character who insists on their sanity while describing the murder of an old man, driven by the old man’s “vulture-like” eye. The tale explores themes of guilt, madness, and the psychological effects of crime, ultimately leading to the narrator’s confession as they are haunted by the sound of the old man’s beating heart. The story has significantly influenced the genre of psychological thrillers and is considered a classic of American literature.

Britannica