Divine Comedy day

This is the Chwast "graphic novel" I mentioned yesterday. Not really in the mood for it, but whenever would I be?

Bought it because: it "goes with" another book I have by Seymour Chwast, "The Left-Handed Designer." I'm not a designer, but I am left-handed.

Also bought it because: I once almost acquired (with trade-in credit) a book by his wife. But didn't, and sort of regretted it because that one would've "gone with" "The Left-Handed Designer."

Lesson: I do a lot of "going with" buying. I'm not coordinating an outfit. But maybe I am accessorizing a life?

Book itself: Front cover looks intriguing, but flipping thru it, see panels all in black-and-white, stick-figurish style. Not immediately appealing. I turn to back cover, scanning blurbs by Maira Kalman and Chip Kidd. Bad sign when blurbs are more appealing than contents? Also notice (again) ugly remainder mark on top, which has bled onto the cover. Fastidious me disdains it. The book is marred forever, and not a classy addition to my library.

Other thoughts: Remember that son, now 26, as a child once expressed an interest in "Dante's Inferno," probably thinking it was like "Batman," his then-obsession. Gave him a Dover copy with Doré illustrations. Son is still not a reader, but subconsciously I must be hoping he'll read this comic-book version.

Verdict: Stop living in the past, and pretending you're a "visual person" with a special interest in graphic design. Put it in the giveaway box now.

Why I'm here

So the plan is, pluck one dusty (mouldy) (unsightly) (ridiculous) volume from my madman's library each day and try to justify the purchase. Keep it or scrap it, for heaven's sake, but don't let the heaps grow any higher in our dollhouse-size condo.

Early candidates for the cull (off the top of my head and the top of my kitchen table): Dancer in Madrid (World War II spy memoir); The Collected Letters of Gertrude Bell, Volume 1 (Volume II missing of course; that's why it was at the book sale); and Dante's Divine Comedy adapted by Seymour Chwast (a classic comic-book with a big ugly remainder mark I failed to notice in the heat of purchase).