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10/21/2004: "The Shelflife of Books"

Someone asked me recently, "What makes a book a used book?" At first I thought it was a trick question, but he explained that he was wondering if there was some 'rite of passage' that a book had to undergo before it qualified for entry into a used bookstore. It was a good question, because I had to think a while before I answered.

The simple answer is, No. There are plenty of people who will pick up a paperback in the grocery store, read it, and then turn it into me for credit on the purchase of another book. Lots of books are like that. More often than not, they've got the original sticker on them, which is proof enough that they're used. But then there are the rarities, the books that are truly unique, and they have been through a sort of initiation. They are tomes which have sat upon shelves for years, perhaps decades, passed into a new family, and graced a library for 2-3 generations before falling into my hands. By that time that time the book is either battered or treasured, but it has attained a special status: uniqueness.

By unique I mean books which you yourself would never think of, or think of reading. I'm constantly running into things like this. Simply by glancing at the piles of new stock I see books which you would never find in my personal library: "The Modern Identity Changer - How to Create a New Identity for Privacy and Personal Freedom"; "Have Faith in Massachusetts", by Calvin Coolidge; "Snap Notes of an Eastern Trip: From the Diary of Fannie de C. Miller" (1892); "Perelman's Pocket Encyclopedia of Cigars"; "Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War"; and on and on. Books have survived the ages, and of their family of hundreds or thousands, only a few remain. This, I think, is what makes the used book special. Cast aside by the publisher, the title remains in demand by a special few. That is what qualifies a book for a used/rare store.

I believe it was Arturo Perez-Reverte, author of "The Club Dumas", who said that all books have their own destinies. And in that respect, books are like people. I mean, we all think we're somebody special, right?