This book will change your life

Last weekend in Phoenix, I was in a Borders near the hotel we stayed at. Pop and I were talking about the Anthony Bourdane book, Kitchen Confidential. My brother, being someone of sardonic and pedantic thinking, seemed like the type of person who would love the book. Trouble is, Bourdane's personality had permanently turned Sam off to him and we knew we'd never get him to read the book no matter what goodies it contained.

As Pop wandered over to cooking magazines and I circled through fiction, checking for A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius (everyone says it's his best, but I don't own it because I can't find it anywhere but I've read the others) a guy about my age was sitting paging through an epic volume of Chekhov. (I know right) As I rounded the corner from E to C, he stood up and said "I couldn't help but overhear that you were looking for a book for someone." I explained that we thought my brother would like the Bourdane, but that we'd never convince him to read it.

He unloaded the volume of Chekhov and said, "Well, I've got a great book you should read." He led me to the slasher mystery section and picked up a mass market copy of Fools Die by Mario Puzo (same guy who wrote The Godfather) "I just have to show you this. You can do whatever you want with it, I don't care. But if you read it, this book will change your life" And with that, I thanked him and he walked away.

The book ran for $7.99 and it was nice and thick. I figured, what the hell, I've got all the time in the world to read right now. And if I don't like it, Oh well. I'll only be out 8 and some change.

Later, relaying the story to a friend, she asked if he'd left his phone number in it. No dice. And as I told her, even if he had, I wouldn't have called it.

I went back to the hotel and started reading. The intro was interesting, literally the author pitching the book to the reader. It intrigued me, so I read on. As I read further into the book, I was surprised by how tight the writing was. Solid story, good vocabulary, conversational tone, interesting perspective switch between characters, fast paced without being expendable, some good lines to describe life and love... enjoyable.

I read on the way home from vacation and continued reading when I got there. It was engaging enough that I could read through a cooking show, but not so gripping that I couldn't put it down when I needed.

The funny thing is, things did begin changing. OK, they had begun to change a while ago, I'll give you that. But really truly, there are things at work here that are bigger than I am. Good things are happening and I just have to figure out what I want and what I am going to do.

I am going to bed happy tonight and I don't mind giving a little credit to the book.