If the title is amusing, the author familiar or the cover art striking, that's it, I no longer scan the pages. If I open the book and find a bookmark, a scribble along the margins or perhaps a highlighted passage, I'm extra-satisfied. They're footprints, as it were, across space and time. They give me a glimpse into the person/s who had the book before me.
Dedications provide the best kicks. One time I bought a book signed "Rob Wright, All best" by the author Robert B. Parker. Nice, if er... incomplete. A lot like that song which went, "When you need a friend/that you can depend..."
The following dedication I found in a copy of Gretzky: An Autobiography. It was written in the looping scrawl of a kid not more than eleven years old.
Dear Peter,I wonder if that thoughtful girl is still alive. Is she still a Lakers fan? Is she still on speaking terms with Peter?
Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy this book. From the interest you've shown and watching the Kings games, I think you'll really enjoy this book. Maybe you'll show the same interest in Wayne Gretzky and the Kings as I do in Magic and the Lakers, wouldn't that be scary? Well, anyway enjoy the book!
Love,
Karen
1990
The answers I'll never know, but half the fun is in the asking.
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