Pleased with My Purchase

There are those that laugh at me when I tell them of my love for the Goodwill Store. They chuckle and retort, "What in the world could you possibly find at the Goodwill? Why would you WANT anything from the Goodwill??"

I tell them of fantastic deals, absolute steals and meals on wheels (I really wanted to keep with that "-eal" motif I had going).

They don't believe me when I tell them of the treasures I find, stacked upon their shelves -- particularly in the book department. In the past month, I have bought at least 20 books from Goodwill, and I reckon I've spent somewheres around $20 for those books. And these aren't stupid, cheap books either -- this is actually quality literature!

Why, just last month I found a first edition copy of Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc by Mark Twain! Sure, they wanted $30 for it, and, yes, that is pretty expensive for a thrift store, but that seemed to be a reasonable price considering it's worth around $600.

I made six more purchases today...

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
---> I've read this book a million times, but never got around to buying it. Now I have a copy.

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
---> I also found McCarthy's The Road at Goodwill. I've heard nothing but good about him, so I figured I'd get this one too.

House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
---> Three words: "Oprah's Book Club."

Waiting for God by Simone Weil
---> I really don't know what this book is about, but I figured a book by a 20th century French theologian can't be all bad.

The Hours by Michael Cunningham
---> Whenever I see a book that's won the Pulitzer Prize, I have a tendency to pick it up and thumb through it. When I see a book that's won the Pulitzer Prize at the Goodwill, I buy it, no questions asked.

A Monk Swimming by Malachy McCourt
---> This is a memoir by the brother of one of my favorite writers, Frank McCourt. I was very surprised when I opened to the title page and found the author's signature too, albeit addressed to "Jennifer." No bother -- I just need to come up with a story to explain this Jennifer person... Furthermore, my Irish nationalism bubbles over when I see an Irish writer and I have a high propensity to buy books by Irish writers simply for the sake of our being Irish together.