Connie, he says the book is in print in a $12 trade paper. So you should be able to just, you know, buy it.

I'm cheap, I keep checking the used shelves at the book store. Point of perverse honor.

I'm cheap, I keep checking the used shelves at the book store. Point of perverse honor.

Aww. Connie is me.

A man walks into a bar. On his way in, he stumbles, which strikes him odd, as a way to *start* the evening, but he gets in and orders a Scotch, mostly to get served by Phoebe, the pretty new waitress with the amazing hazel eyes.

After a few minutes, he’s sure he’s made an impression, and he’s already anticipating the feel of her hair, how those eyes will widen with the pleasure of a kiss. Maybe one day, they will talk about all those poems she reads. She brings a fresh bowl of pretzels, and she looks over at him. Great, he thinks, I made an impression.

“Sir?” she says.

“Call me Ed,” he thinks.

“I think you dropped this,”

Blushing, he hops over and retrieves his prosthetic leg.

It might be cheating, Connie, but you can get it on half.com for four bucks.

Is that cheating? Cause I do it all the time. Stretching that book buying dollar, cause I'm broke.

Oh, I just meant cheating wrt the thrill of finding it at a used book store. Like going to the deli instead of hunting.

I like the hunting around at the used bookstores better than just ordering one online. I like to know what condition it is in for sure, and I like looking through stacks of used books to find a great deal hidden away. I will occasionally order a used book online if it is something I want to read immediately.

I keep thinking about half.com, but that's dangerous water to dip into. Plus I hate paying shipping (of course, there may be free shipping deals). If I find something at a used book store I can justify it by saying, "But it won't be there tomorrow!"

I picked up a hardback of Stephen King's "On Writing" not long after it was published for five bucks. I giddily took it to the counter, and the clerk said, "Used? We have this used? Where!"

As a writing book, it's average, but as the story of a writer's life--especially the part about The Accident--it's wonderful. Assuming, of course, that you like King. I much prefer his non-fiction to his fiction these days. Though "Salem's Lot" terrified me.

Plus I hate paying shipping (of course, there may be free shipping deals). If I find something at a used book store I can justify it by saying, "But it won't be there tomorrow!"

I think we were separated at birth.

On Writing is good stuff.