My Used Bookstore? Amazon!

One of the books I got while in college but still quite regularly read is Thomism and Modern Thought by Harry R. Klocker, S.J. It came out in 1962 and, over the years, has accumulated endless marginalia, usually written with a fountain pen.

Well, I left it outdoors the other evening. One of the worst storms hit this area and lasted for a couple of days. After the sun returned and I was taking stock out doors again—why there was my valued Thomism soaked through and through with moisture, the pages glued together, my notes, ancient and new, discoloring the pages with their run-off.

Replacing it, immediately, was my first task of that day. And I was confident in being able to do it. Sure enough. Amazon.com to the rescue. My original came from Missouri. My replacement copy arrived today. It came from a used book store in Massachusetts but, the owner informs me in a note, it originated in Maine. This book likes states beginning with the letter M. Finally in Michigan! The “new” book is as old as the “old,” but it had never been opened. Not even a pencil mark anywhere. So the pleasures of reading it yet again—and annotating the new copy—are still ahead.

This story, however, would be incomplete if I neglected to say that it is, actually, a tour de force of brilliant thought and exposition. I wonder what they use at my alma mater, Rockhurst, these days. But that would be a lot more difficult to discover than getting this sad thing replaced. The next picture gives a better image of the damage.