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Tags: books books: flappers and philosophers music robert graves me being a cheapskate patsy cline shopping ronald reagan bobby darin me? obsessive? never! edward luce marc eliot books: the great war and modern memory parade canceled due to rain f. scott fitzgerald biographies books: in spite of the gods books: good-bye to all that
Published : 9 months, 2 weeks ago (Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:18:50 PDT)
Searched: f. scott fitzgerald
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So, last night I went to Borders for some whim shopping. (Whim shopping = going into a store without anything specific in mind to buy. As in, “Oh, I saw that in the store and bought it on a whim.”) I’m usually one of those people who won’t go into a store until I’ve had time to prioritize my wish list and run price comparisons, but every now and then I like to just browse around and find stuff that I might not have otherwise thought of. Plus, I had a 30% off coupon, $15 in Borders Bucks (a reward for taking a survey), and the remnants of an old gift certificate, so that meant I was able to buy a few things without actually spending any of my own money. Oh yeah, that was a major bonus.
I started browsing in the same place I always do: the Easy Listening music section, which is the rather vague (and often inaccurate) category in which they keep the Bobby Darin CDs. Their Darin collection, however, is downright pathetic. None of his original albums, just three small compilations, and even those were shoved all the way in the back of the shelf. So, I moved them to the front, and put one up on the “Featured Music” top row. With the amount of time I spend rearranging their CDs, they really should be paying me.
A little later I had a moment of major excitement when I found this book…
I have quite a few books on Reagan (it’s probably best that I not specify just how many that is), and most of them don’t give more than a passing nod to his film career, so I was absolutely thrilled to find one that’s actually focused on that period of his life. But then I saw who the author was – Marc Eliot. So far, everybody I’ve talked to who has read one of Eliot’s books has said the same thing: that he seems to be mostly interested in tearing his subjects down and digging up scandal. I haven’t read one myself yet, but with reviews like that, I just can’t bring myself to even bother. So, I didn’t buy the book. Thank you, Marc Eliot, for raining all over my parade. I appreciate it.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I eventually came out of the store with a CD and three books. The books were Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott Fitzgerald, In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India by Edward Luce, and Good-bye to All That: An Autobiography by Robert Graves. I’m most looking forward to reading the last one. An excerpt from the description:
“In this soldier’s story, first published in 1929, poet Robert Graves traces the monumental loss of innocence that occurred as a result of World War I…this dramatic, poignant, and often wry memoir depicts all the horrors and disillusionment of the Great War, from life in the trenches and the loss of dear friends to the absurdity of government bureaucracy.”
I have a stack of books from the library that should take priority, but I think I’m going to have to read that one next, probably in conjunction with The Great War and Modern Memory (which I still haven't had a chance to start yet).
Finally, the CD I bought was Patsy Cline: The Definitive Collection. And, so, I'll end this with a YouTube link to one of my favorite songs from the album, Cline's posthumous hit, “Sweet Dreams (Of You).”.
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