CarrollBlog

Someone wrote in to say they had bought one of my books for a penny. That really made me smile. What on earth can you purchase these days for one penny? And whether you end up liking the book or not, buying it for a single cent has to be one of the greatest bargains still around. It reminded me of how much fun it is to poke around in used book stores, flea markets and yard sales, looking for the unknown or unknown treasures. The first collection of Charles Bukowski's poetry I read cost ten cents in a used book store. I took it off the shelf (who's this guy?), had a quick look inside and froze. My eyes popped out of my head as I read poem after gritty, funny poem, the likes of which my 20 year old self had never seen before, much less dreamed could exist. Ten cents. I hear that a pack of twenty cigarettes in some American cities now costs eight dollars. One cig= forty cents. Four times more than my first Bukowski bouquet. Robertson Davies' FIFTH BUSINESS cost twenty- five cents in a box of books at a New Jersey yard sale. If someone were to ask what five books have influenced me most as a writer, FIFTH BUSINESS would be on that list. Twenty- five cents. Everyone wants to be paid and paid well for what they do. But there is also something very nice about knowing your work is available to the searching eye for one penny.