The Sunday Afternoon Haul

With the ladies away at a bridal shower, the boy and I passed the afternoon at Harvest Books in Ft. Washington, PA, which just so happened to be having a "$5 per bag" sale. This is exactly what it sounds like: browse the shelves. Fill a paper bag. Pay $5 (plus tax) for it.

The boy scored a few Far Side collections and a Bart Simpson book. Meanwhile, here's what I scooped up:

How to Talk Dirty and Influence People by Lenny Bruce. A Playboy Press paperback, as shown above. I've never read this. It's long overdue.

The Family by Ed Sanders. Don't know why, but I've been in a Manson mood lately.

The Kennedy Wit, Edited by Bill Adler. The coverline is what sold me: "1100,000 Copies in Print at $3.00. Now Only 60c!"

The Way We Lived Then and Justice by Dominick Dunne. I've been on a John Gregory Dunne tear lately, so I thought I might check out some of his brother's work.

Capote, by Gerald Clarke. A bio I've been meaning to read for years.

The Late John Marquand by Stephen Birmingham. Another literary bio. I've never read Marquand. But the jacket copy makes him sound like a real son of a bitch, so in the bag it went.

Damon Runyon: A Life by Jimmy Breslin. You might be sensing a vague theme to my picks this afternoon.

Kiss Hollywood Good-By by Anita Loos. "Her irreverance is the key to her readability." Sold.

Heroes by Joe McGinniss. He's a hometown boy (or was). In the bag it went.

I also picked up The Selected Letters of Raymond Chandler (edited by Frank MacShane) for five bucks, as well as a softcover copy of one of my favorite biographies ever, Cain by Roy Hoopes (for $4). Yes, I already have Cain in hardcover. But I buy copies whenever I run across them, because I usually end up giving extras to friends.

Anybody ever read any of the above?