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AIRPORT READS: THE GAME
I fly a lot.
Which is why one of my favorite author blurbs is the one for Douglas Adams, where it said he could usually be found in airport book stalls.
I can identify with that. I always bring a book on a flight, and pack a spare one in my luggage for the trip back. But sometimes I find myself in need of an emergency book – usually because the book I have takes a shorter time to read than I thought, or I had more time to read than I thought, or whatever.
The good news: airports always have books. Also – and I mention this because I typically travel to countries where English is a second or third language – most airports have English-language books.
The bad news: the selection is usually limited to the kinds of books I usually don’t read – mass-market fiction, Top 10 best-sellers, business advice, self-help books, romantic vampires, 50 Shades Of Whatever, etc.
So the challenge is to find a book I’d actually want to read, even if only because it’s either that or having no book at all. On the plus side, it’s a way to force me out of my comfort zone and try an author I normally wouldn’t try, or an author that I’ve kind sorta thought about trying, but have been putting off/avoiding. Sometimes the results are abysmal. But sometimes they’re quite rewarding.
Anyway.
The above scenario rarely ever happens. But I love browsing in bookstores anyhow, so I’ll usually stop in the airport bookshops while I’m waiting for my flight, whether I need a book or not. And I find myself playing a game:
The objective: try to identify at least one book I would actually buy if I needed one.
For example, I recently did this in the Barcelona airport, where the bookshops don’t have a very big English-language section, which makes it a bit challenging. Still, I managed to narrow it down to three:
1. Ross MacDonald, The Goodbye Look
2. Roberto Bolano, Antwerp
3. Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
I’ve read McCarthy before, and wouldn’t mind reading him again. And I’ve never read MacDonald before, but I’ve seen his name on books since I was a kid, so I was curious.
Still, I think I would have gone with Bolano – partly because he’s semi-local to Barcelona (he’s from Chile, but he lived near Barcelona from 1977 until his death in 2003), and partly because I became aware of him via an intro he wrote for another book. He seems like someone who might be worth checking out.
I didn't buy the book, of course, because I didn't need one. And I also didn’t need the extra weight of another book in my carry-on. But if I had needed one, that’s the one I would have got.
And yes, I do this all the time.
NOTE: The Barcelona results were actually kind of atypical. I don’t usually get that many options, and they’re usually not that literary. In most airports, I’m more likely to end up with something like Terry Pratchett (and that’s assuming it’s a Discworld book I haven’t read yet).
Ready for boarding,
This is dF
Which is why one of my favorite author blurbs is the one for Douglas Adams, where it said he could usually be found in airport book stalls.
I can identify with that. I always bring a book on a flight, and pack a spare one in my luggage for the trip back. But sometimes I find myself in need of an emergency book – usually because the book I have takes a shorter time to read than I thought, or I had more time to read than I thought, or whatever.
The good news: airports always have books. Also – and I mention this because I typically travel to countries where English is a second or third language – most airports have English-language books.
The bad news: the selection is usually limited to the kinds of books I usually don’t read – mass-market fiction, Top 10 best-sellers, business advice, self-help books, romantic vampires, 50 Shades Of Whatever, etc.
So the challenge is to find a book I’d actually want to read, even if only because it’s either that or having no book at all. On the plus side, it’s a way to force me out of my comfort zone and try an author I normally wouldn’t try, or an author that I’ve kind sorta thought about trying, but have been putting off/avoiding. Sometimes the results are abysmal. But sometimes they’re quite rewarding.
Anyway.
The above scenario rarely ever happens. But I love browsing in bookstores anyhow, so I’ll usually stop in the airport bookshops while I’m waiting for my flight, whether I need a book or not. And I find myself playing a game:
Emergency Book Search!
The objective: try to identify at least one book I would actually buy if I needed one.
For example, I recently did this in the Barcelona airport, where the bookshops don’t have a very big English-language section, which makes it a bit challenging. Still, I managed to narrow it down to three:
1. Ross MacDonald, The Goodbye Look
2. Roberto Bolano, Antwerp
3. Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses
I’ve read McCarthy before, and wouldn’t mind reading him again. And I’ve never read MacDonald before, but I’ve seen his name on books since I was a kid, so I was curious.
Still, I think I would have gone with Bolano – partly because he’s semi-local to Barcelona (he’s from Chile, but he lived near Barcelona from 1977 until his death in 2003), and partly because I became aware of him via an intro he wrote for another book. He seems like someone who might be worth checking out.
I didn't buy the book, of course, because I didn't need one. And I also didn’t need the extra weight of another book in my carry-on. But if I had needed one, that’s the one I would have got.
And yes, I do this all the time.
NOTE: The Barcelona results were actually kind of atypical. I don’t usually get that many options, and they’re usually not that literary. In most airports, I’m more likely to end up with something like Terry Pratchett (and that’s assuming it’s a Discworld book I haven’t read yet).
Ready for boarding,
This is dF