Library riches

I am often burdened by abundance. I am surrounded by books but I need to focus on one book at a time.   Right now I am reading Vivian Gornick’s   Approaching Eye Level published in 1996.   (I am thankful for the librarian, one or more, that thought it worthy to save.    I read a recent review of a book, since forgotten, that referred to this book.  At the library where I work,  people get rid of books with reckless abandon.     2009, way too old for some of my co-workers, regardless of what is in the book and who wrote it.

Fortunately, I work in a library system with 37 branches and can usually find one copy.    But not always.     Books are not valued equally by all.     I still love them, old or new, and only the lack of space or poor condition gets me to “weed.”         Not all librarians love books.     That’s what I am finding out..    How very disappointing.

Gornick’s  book sparkles and crackles with energy, passion, and insight, even 24 years later.   How grateful I am for it, and for the way it connects to my life even now.    She is a thinker, a reader, a writer, an observer, and someone whose wry wit connects to my own.    Whether it is the streets of New York City, working in the Catskills, or the extended explanation of what feminism means and how it finally made sense to her, her writing shines.   She writes about living alone, and  about her relationship/mentorship with an author whose work she admired.     As a writer with aspirations for book publishing and essay writing, I need to read people like her that show me the way.