Strike Two
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"Slightly Chipped", by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone is the second offering on what is supposed to be their continuing exploration of the world of book collecting. However, just as in their first book, "Used And Rare", the topic of books serves to provide these people with a continuous stream of targets for abuse. Please do not take to heart their description of what it is like to collect books nor of what type of people you will likely encounter while doing so.
To give you an idea of how far this book routinely strays from the alleged topic, what follows are direct quotes. The first takes place at a gathering at a library amongst a small group who are present to learn about very rare books. Any one of the volumes could be the subject of an entire book, but books are just a tangent in this brief and shallow memoir. While they do not hesitate to name the person they describe, and also list his occupation, I offer just a fragment out of the respect for privacy they show no concern for. "He was the kind of person whom Hollywood casts as the computer junkie who uses the Internet to lure young women to his apartment for.................." This is what they choose to describe as books from nearly a millennia ago are passed around the table. A book by William Morris is part of the evening's discussion. Mr. Morris produced some of the most prized limited editions of the late 19th Century. Here, that is almost a footnote when compared to his personal life, which rambles on for pages.
These people cannot even visit a bookstore that I know well, without adding this bit of irrelevant mean-spirited commentary on Torrington CT. ".thus providing the grimness and depressedness of Torrington for that much longer". Canton is described as, "hardly a town at all", and they quiz the owner on why he is located in such a difficult location. Our authors have moved to Fairfield CT. since their last book, an area that allows them to name drop the famous and wealthy, one of whom had to change homes because the light at The Yacht Club shone into his bedroom. What any of this has to do with books is beyond me.
Collecting books is a wonderful hobby. Shop owners generally will spend vast amounts of time, sharing their knowledge and love of books. I have been present when booksellers have taken a personal check for several thousand dollars on the final day of a show, from a person they never met, hours before they were to fly across the Atlantic to their shop in England. As a group, book collectors and dealers are wonderful people who share what Author Nicholas Basbanes has called, "A Gentle Madness". The authors do not enjoy this state of mind, rather, like the title of this book what rests upon their shoulders may be slightly chipped, however a large portion remains firmly in place.
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A humorous insight into book collecting
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I loved this book - most unexpected because I know nothing about book collecting. The 'real-time' and unpretentious approach to the story telling by the authors of their 'adventures' really works well. I also greatly appreciated the 'aside' stories - Bloomsbury, the 'duk' and 'duches', Cudjo, Rosenbach, etc. - I would never had known about some of these. I especially liked the apparent 'closeness' of the authors in their endeavors. One word of advice for the authors, however - although your 'review' of the West Street Grill was interesting, stick to books - I'm a Bob Evans type guy myself. I'm looking forward to reading "Used and Rare" and "Slightly Chipped II".
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Good, but...
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I had somewhat mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I enjoyed the authors' sense of humor, modesty and easygoing, engaging writing style. (As with Used and Rare however, one must adjust to the unusual first person plural narrative, in which every quote is uttered by both of them and which yields such sentences as "We turned the book over in our hands.") On the other hand, it seemed as if there wasn't quite enough material to fill an entire book, which may have caused the authors to go off on a number of looonnnggg tangents/sidebars. Some of these I enjoyed, but others I found very dull (such as the Bloomsbury material, the stuff about Cudjo, and the biography of William Morris). I also thought that the opening of the book showed a bit of false humility, since, despite their disappointment in not easily finding Used and Rare in the Boston bookstores, the book obviously sold well enough to warrant their publisher's OK for a second volume on the same material. All in all though, a good book.
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A captivating and charming read.
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Much like their first book, Used & Rare, Slightly Chipped is another foray into the wonderful world of book collecting. The authors have a wonderful and charming voice that makes readers want to not only go out book-buying with them but also to dinner.
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I THINK IT IS GREAT! What are people expecting?
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This is a great little book about the Goldstone's personal explorations into the book world and the people they meet there. Their descriptions of the people they meet, the Duke and Duchess, book dealers and their shops, fairs, auctions, etc., are exactly in keeping with the tone of the first book and I enjoyed it quite as much. One of the things that impressed me the most was the thoughts, pro, con, and speculative, about the internet and where it may or may not be going and possible ramifications of this. It is important, but nobody can truly answer that question yet. I loved it. I use the internet (obviously). I live in small town USA and love books, but cannot always get my hands on them without long distances and elaborate plans. Bibliofind is worth a lot to me all on its own. Helpful or not, I just enjoyed reading the book. It wouldn't even be the same without the menus. The mood is all part of the book. I can't wait for the next one.
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