A Rare Book                                                   06/21/24
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I was in  a thrift shop this  morning, looking at books,  when I came 
across a volume that looked interesting.                              

Tree of Codes, by Jonathan Safran Foer

I picked  it up, of  course, and  read the back  cover--which revealed
absolutely nothing.  I flipped  through it  and noticed  it was  not a
normal  book... this  book was  a die-cut  wonder, with  words peeking
through seemingly  randomly cut panels to  reveal a sort of  story (or
part of one).

My first  thought was, "Ah, this  is a pretentious piece  of so-called
art." Then  I thought perhaps  it would  be fascinating to  attempt to
read... maybe it had something hidden that I would enjoy.

I wandered  around the store  with it, planning  to buy it  (they sell
paperbacks for  $0.10 there, what  could I  lose?). After a  while, my
internal  debate ended  with  the  thought, "Nah,  I  don't need  some
bizarre book laying around. If it  can't even tell me what it's about,
why should I bother? I have better things to do." I walked back to the
shelf to return it.

Standing in front of the bookshelf, I turned the volume over once more
in my hands, and noticed that the original price for the book was $40.
That's a  lot for a paperback, even in today's world. Then I wondered,
"How much might these sell for on eBay?"

(I still find it amazing that I have the internet in my pocket all the
time. The  first phone I  had with internet  was the Nokia  3650. That
thing was a wacky beast, but I was  amazed at what I could do with it.
But I digress.)

Within seconds,  I could see that  this volume in my  hands was listed
for anywhere between $220-$400 dollars. It was A Rare Book.

Of course I bought the volume, and read about it a little. While it is
interesting in its  own way, I don't  have a place for it  in my life.
But I do have an eBay account. And  so, there is now a bargain copy of
Tree of Codes for only $175, for interested collectors everywhere :)

Whether  it is,  in fact,  a pretentious piece of so-called art I will 
leave up to the buyer.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/335452245705