By Now that we are rolled out and “Live,” the fun begins. What is our voice? Who is our audience? Why should you turn the page?
Perhaps that last line says it all. We are amok in information. Even those who rebel against the digital onslaught and flinch at the words “fake news” are forced to decipher what is real. To that end, I offer that books are as real as the dog-eared pages in your hand. They pair well with wine, music, lunch at your desk, or the commute home (should you be fortunate enough to live in a town with excellent public transportation.)
So FOOD FOR MARRIAGE will delve into books. My vision is not to be a sharp-scythed fount of edgy reviews. We have Goodreads for that. No, I think our purpose is to say Read This! Loved that! This book made my day just a bit more informed or perhaps a little bit brighter.
Our first offering comes from my cherished collection of original children’s titles. In 8th grade I went off to summer camp and my parents moved while I was away. (They did leave a forwarding address!) When I got home on the camp bus to the Cross County Center in Yonkers, NY my Aunt Tamara met me and took me to Penn Station. She put me on the Amtrak to Washington, DC. When I arrived at my new home in suburban Maryland, my mother, unbeknownst to me, had offloaded all my baseball cards, matchbox cars and books. I guess she thought I was not a child any more. She was wrong.
I cannot walk by a copy of E.L. Konigsburg’s MIXED UP FILES without stopping to read a few pages. In the vastly unlikely event you missed this classic, it is the story of a girl named Claudia who decides to run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art because she feels a deep sense of injustice towards her parents. She brings her little brother Jamie along because he has more money than her. They decamp to the Museum where they discover a mysterious piece of art, the joys and fears of having a palatial building of rare works all to themselves, and a few things about being siblings and growing up. Need I say more?
My copy is the original Newberry award-winning original 1967 edition. I don’t remember what it cost on eBay but I am sure it was less than a round of cocktails on the Upper East Side. The pleasure it brings is significant and lasts a lot longer. You don’t get to repurchase your childhood, but getting a hold of those books goes a long way to remembering the very best parts.
Food for Marriage encourages lovers of literature to share the volumes that changed their lives. If you have a good story to go with a favorite tome, we might just run it on these pages.
