May 12th, 2009 / 12:57 pm
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Used Bookstore Finds: ‘Camels in my mouth and the cast of STOMP in my head’

A few years ago, I worked at a used bookstore in Fairfax, Virginia. I found a lot of interesting stuff tucked into various books or written on their pages as I sorted through the incoming boxes, but my favorite discovery fell out of a copy of Robert Olen Butler’s A Good Scent From A Strange Mountain: the following handwritten letter, dated 2/22/99, which I’ve done my best to type out below the picture.

letter1

 

Peter,

You deserve so much more than this loose leaf notebook paper but if I don’t say what I want to now I’m afraid the time will pass. As I laid next to you with a herd of camels in my mouth and the cast of STOMP in my head and a 20yr. marriage falling apart – I felt soft and safe and wanted. There was no way I was going to let any more abandonment and indiscretion into my friendship with you. I love your spirit, your genius, your unlimited style, your Whiting-Davis, your energy – just you Peter, The Person – and I am forever in your debt for how you watched over me.

Sincerely,
Your Queen Priscus,
Wini

I cannot bring myself to get rid of this letter. I’m fascinated by it. I hope these past ten years have been kind to Wini and Peter’s friendship.

 

If you have interesting used bookstore finds, feel free to email us.

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23 Comments

  1. pr

      I loved that short story collection. I think his career got seriously fucked afterward by a super nasty first page review of his next book in the sunday tmes book review by Jane Smiley.

      What I like about this found letter is how finding something like this can open us up to the hearts of other humans we don’t even know- and yet they exist out there and finding a letter like this- or a photo or whatever- can give you the zing of our common human suffering and joy.

      If I don’t eat something my brain may explode.

  2. pr

      I loved that short story collection. I think his career got seriously fucked afterward by a super nasty first page review of his next book in the sunday tmes book review by Jane Smiley.

      What I like about this found letter is how finding something like this can open us up to the hearts of other humans we don’t even know- and yet they exist out there and finding a letter like this- or a photo or whatever- can give you the zing of our common human suffering and joy.

      If I don’t eat something my brain may explode.

  3. Michael

      I love this.

  4. Michael

      I love this.

  5. sam pink

      that is a sad letter

  6. sam pink

      that is a sad letter

  7. jereme

      sam i agree. the question now is “did the letter ever get mailed or was it put to dormant sleep within the confines of the book.

      every day is struggle.

      believe that.

  8. jereme

      sam i agree. the question now is “did the letter ever get mailed or was it put to dormant sleep within the confines of the book.

      every day is struggle.

      believe that.

  9. Ryan Call

      i agree.

  10. Ryan Call

      i agree.

  11. ryan

      man! makes you want to write Wini a letter and say “amen, been there.”

      i like the idea behind this series, if that’s what it turns out to be. i know i’ve found interesting things tucked in books, i’m not sure that i can locate them, though.

  12. ryan

      man! makes you want to write Wini a letter and say “amen, been there.”

      i like the idea behind this series, if that’s what it turns out to be. i know i’ve found interesting things tucked in books, i’m not sure that i can locate them, though.

  13. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      I haven’t read Strange Mountain.

      I did enjoy the decapitation book, I thought it was more than a gimmick.

  14. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      I haven’t read Strange Mountain.

      I did enjoy the decapitation book, I thought it was more than a gimmick.

  15. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      I wonder if Wini went back to her husband and they worked stuff out and she never told him about her dalliance with Peter and now he will stumble upon evidence of her indiscretion online and you will have ruined her life, or perhaps reminded her that she never should have gone back to her husband in the first place, that she has never gotten over Peter, and she will seek him out and know love beyond what she ever believed she deserved.

  16. Tim Jones-Yelvington

      I wonder if Wini went back to her husband and they worked stuff out and she never told him about her dalliance with Peter and now he will stumble upon evidence of her indiscretion online and you will have ruined her life, or perhaps reminded her that she never should have gone back to her husband in the first place, that she has never gotten over Peter, and she will seek him out and know love beyond what she ever believed she deserved.

  17. jereme

      tim, rule number one when committing a murder:

      no body == no crime

      the hacker community changed it to “no longs == no crime” a long time ago although I don’t know if that saying is still en vogue.

      she shouldn’t have let the note live.

  18. jereme

      that should read “no logs == no crime”

      sorry.

  19. jereme

      tim, rule number one when committing a murder:

      no body == no crime

      the hacker community changed it to “no longs == no crime” a long time ago although I don’t know if that saying is still en vogue.

      she shouldn’t have let the note live.

  20. jereme

      that should read “no logs == no crime”

      sorry.

  21. Kevin O'Neill

      Click my name for a similar love theme, but written on a post-it note. Forget in which book I found it, annoyingly.

  22. Kevin O'Neill

      Click my name for a similar love theme, but written on a post-it note. Forget in which book I found it, annoyingly.

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