On The Road With Al and Ivy: Blog

“The good old days were the days, seemingly, when the critics had their way and ran things with a high hand; they made or unmade books and authors. They killed Chatterton, just as, some years later, they hastened the death of Keats. For a time they were all-powerful. It was not until the end of the eighteenth century that these professional tyrants began to lose their grip, and when Byron took up the lance against them their doom was practically sealed.” - Eugene Field (Love Affairs Of A Bibliomaniac, 1896 - Chapter XIV) EUGENE FIELD’S THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF A BIBLIOMANIAC, CHURCH’S ILLIAD, DISNEYLAND AND OTHER THOUGHTS: One of my earliest childhood memories is of two visits to Disneyland. The first time we arrived early and waited in the parking lot. From the outside, it looked a lot like another amusement park that I spent a lot of time at, the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.  Once we entered, it was noticeably different. The model for the Boardwalk was Coney Island, but here the intent was ...

"add Deeds to thy knowledge answerable; add faith,  Add virtue, patience, temperance; add love,  By name to come called charity, the soul  Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loathe To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess  A Paradise within thee, happier far.—" - Milton (Paradise Lost) I've spent a lot of my leisure time in used bookstores. One of the best was Berger's in Sunnyvale, California, back in the 80s. It was a dusty hole in the wall, owned by Thomas Berger, who spent his days reading classics and theological works, but would stop and ring up sales or handle trades as needed. I saw him use a vacuum cleaner a couple of times too. Like any good used bookstore, it reflected the owner's tastes, and in this case, it was the classics and history at very low prices. That was right up my alley, and my average stay was two hours, often more. My routine was to walk through the aisles and check the new arrivals, which were on the floor in boxes and bags until ...