Saturday, October 26, 2019

'Lilian..." a recycle story as the novel goes green

NOVEL GETS ANOTHER LIFE AS SECOND OWNER GETS INSCRIPTION

HISTORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS
PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

THIS IS a short and sweet post, mainly to share a smile.
I was asked to give a reading a couple days ago to a small group of friends, nothing fancy, nothing pre-arranged, but several of the women wanted me to inscribe their Amazon copies of "Lilian's Last Dance."
Christene Meyers signs first edition
copies of "Lilian's Last Dance."
One of the books looked well used, which made me happy.  Perhaps more than one person had thumbed through it, even read it cover to cover. Maybe the person died, gave it away, donated it, who knows?
The inscription was to a distant relative's elderly brother, a Jesuit priest for many years and a well known conservative thinker. The cousin had purchased the book as a gift to his now late sibling.
The brother must have sold it back to Amazon, probably for a few dollars, because the lady at the signing this week bought it from Amazon.
I'm guessing that the subject matter was too much for my distant cousin's priestly brother.  Drugs, sex, boozing, outlaws, suggestive contemporary art, bi-sexuality, violence in the Old West.  (Or perhaps he just wanted a few bucks change.) I do hope the book did not contribute to his demise.
In any case, I recognized the original inscription and wrote another above it.
All for the opportunity to endorse recycling. "Lilian's Last Dance" goes green.
And yes, the book is still available at Amazon and in selected bookstores around (a couple in Montana; several in California.)
And yes, I'm still whittling away at the music, hoping this is accomplished before I, like one of my favorite characters in the novel, go to my urn.

No comments:

Post a Comment