The History of a New Book

For participation in a book group I usually buy a copy of the book so I don’t have to worry about renewing it with the library or returning it to a friend. For a group beginning this month I ordered the title from one of my favorite second-hand sellers. Four years old, this copy was listed as “like new.” When I unwrapped it, and began riffling through the pages, I was convinced the book was brand new, unread. 

 

The easiest way to evaluate the newness of a trade paperback book is the binding and cover. There is no sign the cover was even opened—no fold or crease along the edge of the spine front or back, no wrinkle in the spine, and the tightness of the pages intact.

 

The only sign that the book had been opened was the inscription on the half-title page: “To Molly, Hope you appreciate this book as much as we do. Love to you! David & Marti 1-’17.” Some readers don’t like finding inscriptions or notes on any book they buy, even when they know it’s second hand and likely to come with a few. Not me. I’m curious about where the book has been and who left their reactions and additions hidden among the paragraphs. But in this one I won’t find anything.

 

It looks like Molly didn’t even open the book to check the contents, scan the first page of the first chapter, or read the acknowledgments at the back. Except for the inscription, the book looks and feels pristine. 

 

This kind of discovery of something purchased second hand shouldn’t surprise anyone today—so many books circulate through libraries and online bookstores that we all get brand-new copies occasionally. But this one surprised me because the person who gave it as a gift clearly loved it, and gave it to someone thought to be a kindred spirit.

 

So what book is it? This week I’m beginning a group discussing When Awareness Becomes Natural: A Guide to Cultivating Mindfulness in Everyday Life, by Sayadaw U Tejaniya (from Shambala Publications). 

 

I’ve been trying to recall if I have ever so misjudged a friend with the book or other gift I’ve passed along. Friends and I are quick to share what we like to read (or eat or see on TV), but there are sure to be pockets of surprises for me as well as for them.

 

So, as I ponder this book’s limping arrival in my life, I’ll wonder about Molly and what she disliked on sight about this book. Or if she ever ran into David and Marti and had to tell them no, she didn’t love the book as much as they did. Or did she just say yes, she read it but now she’s forgotten what it was about? This is for all practical purposes a new book but it already has a history--as a brand-new book in a bookstore, as a gift to Molly, as a reject in a second-hand bookstore, and now as my ticket into a zoom book group. I’ll be thinking of Molly and her friends as I read. And I'll be wondering at the irony of her rejecting this book in particular, a book with the theme of mindfulness or awareness of the reality we are immersed in daily.