Education at the Used Book Store

In an effort to deepen my understanding of literary culture, and because I'd just like to say I've done it, I am making an effort to read some classic works of fiction. My first mission: Locate a copy of The Great Gatsby. To that end I took a side trip this afternoon to our local used book store. You might be surprised at what you can discover about yourself and about popular culture by making a visit to a seller of our discards. Here is but a small slice of what I discovered today:

1. Book Reviewers use the word incandescent way too liberally.

2. Ten years later, Vinegar Hill is still a lousy book. I don't care what Oprah says.

3. We pay a high price for hype. Books you paid full price for a year ago can now be purchased for pennies on the dollar.

4. There are entirely too many editions of "Chicken Soup for the Soul."

5. Jan Karon's books are timeless.

6. People waste way too much money on kissing books (known as romance novels to the rest of the world). If we put as much time into our marriages as some people put into reading that trash...well, you get the idea.

7. If you pay full price for a Disney children's book, you are out of your mind. I found TONS of those for about 80 cents apiece.

8. We don't read nearly enough classic fiction. I could not find even one copy of The Great Gatsby.

9. Tom Clancy books are really, really big!

10. The world does not know the difference between religion and Christianity.

We live in a culture of feel-good, throw away the old, buy only the newest stuff, and brand names matter. In general, our population runs about as spiritually deep as the newest top ten self-improvement book. I want to look different than that. I pray when someone notices where my focus is, they see someone who places very little value on things and, instead, values relationships; with God, with my family, and with my neighbors. If they can't learn the difference between Christianity and religion in a book store, I hope they can learn it through me.