Sunday, May 27, 2007

The Perfect Camping Book

When I went camping earlier this week, I struggled with what book to read duing the downtime. A quick trip to the Modern Library shelves in the living room did the trick, as I found the perfect volume to take.


This book was sent to me by a friend in California. There's a bookplate in the front with an address, but the name is unreadable. "120 Laurel Ave, Palo Alto." Anyway, the stories were the perfect length to cram in around the edges of the day and nights in the campground. Before breakfast, before a nap, after everyone else was asleep. I got them all read except for the Steinbeck. I thought the winners were the Maugham, the Mansfield, the Cather, the Lardner and especially the Lawrence. Only one dog in the bunch, the Pearl Buck story. Has there ever been a hackier hack than she? I almost threw the book across the tent.


In addition to being the perfect book to read while hanging out around the campsite, it also looked really great on the picnic table.

3 comments:

Kaethe said...

You're right. It looks great.

Unknown said...

Your friend has excellent taste.

You liked the Maugham best? Well, blow me down.

Unknown said...

I forgot to say: GORGEOUS shelves. Like those wall arch insets in Catholic churches but instead of holy saints you've got holy books. Exquisite.