Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Looking Homeward, Angel, Again


My mother asked for a book by Thomas Wolfe. How hard could that be to find, right? Well, after going around and calling around to about a half dozen bookstores in the general vicinity of where I live, I could not find a one, nor could I find a bookstore person who seemed to know who he was, exactly. Everyone seemed to confuse him with Tom Wolfe, the esteemed author of Bonfire of the Vanities, among other fine works. Finally, I called Book Revue in Huntington, and got someone who seemed to know what I was asking for. "Yes, we have both Look Homeward, Angel and You Can't Go Home Again. I will hold them both aside for you." All was right with the world. There was at least one semi-literate person working the desk in a Long Island bookstore. Until I went to purchase the book(s). "And we also have I am Charlotte Simmons, and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test."
Um, that's a different Wolfe. "Oh right, Tobias." Hmmmm.
At least my mother seemed to appreciate the gesture. When I handed her Look Homeward, Angel, she said, "I've already read it."