Fool for the City

Yesterday I got to take the train in to New York yesterday to go have lunch with a group of librarians, book people, and Hyperion staff. I hate to be stuck up and snobbish, but people who read are very, very cool. These folks read a ton. I read a ton, too, but my ton always seems less weighty somehow.

I bought an umbrella in Grand Central Station because we tend to leave umbrellas everywhere we go. If the world decides they ever need an Umbrella Fairy that leaves umbrellas for deserving children everywhere, either Kim or I have a good chance at competing for the job because we have so much prior experience. It was raining, and I was walking 25 blocks or so, so I bought the umbrella. Yes, I know there are many cabs that would be more than willing to take me to my final destination at FTL speeds, but I like to walk. I love walking in New York City. And I honestly believe that every American should walk in the rain in NYC at least once (I also believe that every American should, at least once, try grits, listen to a baseball game on the radio, visit another country, befriend someone from out of state, and visit the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. I also think Americans should have both a favorite rap song and a favorite country song, not litter, and be kind to children, stray cats, and zombies).

When we emerged from the restaurant a few hours later the sky was bright and the sun was shining and I knew a lot more about books that other people loved and hopefully they knew a little more about one I love (Generation Dead) My plan to dance Astaire like (or Abdul-like, for the younger crowd) through the puddles evaporated, because the actual puddles had evaporated, so I instead killed some time before walking back in a huge bookstore, making sure to visit all four floors on the off chance that they put GD out ahead of street date. No such luck, but I did see a very nice display in a local store today, and I have gotten reports from my spies far afield that they have seen/bought copies of GD even though it won't be out until next week.

These reports get me thinking, "wouldn't it be cool if these ahead-of-street-date books had an extra chapter or character or something that would make them different from those "officially" released on May 6th? It would be like that early Bob Dylan record, where four songs were changed between pressings, or a run of a Beatles album that had a different cover pasted on top of the original?

I often have useful thoughts like these, even when I'm staring out a train window watching the city recede from view.