Listen to Jim here: http://jimreedbooks.com/mp3/silenceofthebooks.mp3
or read on…
THE SILENCE OF THE BOOKS
.
.
The Center of the Universe is the only quiet haven, isolated sanctuary, peaceful zone I can find in a world fraught with fear and anger and confusion and chaos.
.
The Center of the Universe—that is, Reed Books Antiques and the Museum of Fond Memories and the Library of Thought—is where everybody gets along with each other, where every philosophy and dogma, every political stance and emotion-laden opinion, every immovable object and irresistible force, all co-exist side by side in friendship and disagreement.
.
Here at my shop, every extreme, moderate and goofy idea gets equal billing, and we all have a good heated argument and afterwards share tea and crumpets together in a spirit of goodwill and tolerance.
.
How can this happen, this meeting of the minds, anywhere else in the world?
.
Take a look around the shop. Books featuring every viewpoint imaginable are happily shelved side by side, and nobody complains!
.
There’s Henny Youngman and Ernest Hemingway and Abraham Lincoln and Rick Bragg and Plutarch and Joseph Stalin and Thomas Jefferson and Ann Coulter and Hillary Clinton and Eldridge Cleaver and Nelson Mandela and Chris Rock and Kurt Vonnegut and Socrates and Jon Stewart and Mark Twain and Billy Graham and Michael Moore and Jennifer Flowers and Mother Teresa and the Albert’s Schweitzer and Einstein.
.
How come they can all enjoy the peacefulness of a small bookstore at the Center of the Universe, but they can’t in any way agree to cooperate in the world outside these walls?
.
Why is it that within the shop these folks lie dangerously near each other in peace?
There’s Anais Nin and Nancy Drew and Harry Potter and Jesus Christ and the Great’s Catherine and Alexander and Hopalong Cassidy and Superman and Norman Bates and Hannibal Lector and the Judy’s Canova and Garland and the Lucy’s Van Pelt and Ball and the Marx’s Groucho and Karl and the Ferdinand’s King and Bull and the Bull’s Connor and Durham…
.
They’re all here, folks, and they are getting along just fine.
.
If you want a gentle break from the craziness of a world gone impolite, just wander into the bookstore at the Center of the Universe, have a MoonPie on me, gaze in awe at the only place where the War of the Worlds is not taking place. Then, re-energized, re-awakened, venture forth onto the streets and take some of that peacefulness with you and spread it around.
.
Who knows what could come of that?
.
Just a thought
.
.
© Jim Reed 2010 A.D.