[continued from previous message]   
      
   At combats gladitorial,   
   And ate enough to feed   
   Ten boarders at Memorial;   
      
   He often went on sprees,   
   And said on starting homus,   
   "Hic labor-opus est,   
   Oh, where's my hic! hic! domus?"   
      
   Although he lived in Rome   
   Of all the arts the middle   
   He was (excuse the phrase)   
   A horrid individl');   
   Ah! what a diff'rent thing   
   Was the homo (Latin, hominy)   
   Of far away B. C.   
    From us of Anno Domini."   
      
   [-sl]   
      
   ===================================================================   
      
   TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)   
      
   I mentioned a few weeks ago I had ordered some books as a run-up   
   to our annual trip to Second Time Books in Mt. Laurel.  (I wish it   
   could be semi-annual, but there you have it.)  Well, we went to   
   Second Time books, and I got nine books.  It doesn't sound like   
   much but the stack is ten inches tall.   
      
   Continuing my dive into ancient Roman history, I got Richard C.   
   Beacham's "Spectacle Entertainments of Early Imperial Rome", G. W.   
   Bowersock's "From Gibbon to Auden: Essays on the Classical   
   Tradition", Denis Feeney's "Caesar's Calendar", and Peter   
   Heather's "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (600 pages).   
      
   I also noticed a plethora of Michael Grant books on ancient Rome.   
   I asked whether he had sold the store his backlog of author's   
   copies, but they said it was just coincidence from a few different   
   people who brought books in.   
      
   The two really thick books I got were "The Everyman Chesterton"   
   (at 900 pages) and George Orwell's "Essays" (also Everyman   
   publishing, at 1370 pages).  They would be even thicker if the   
   paper weren't so thin.   
      
   Rounding my purchases out were three of thinner books: Peter   
   Manseau's "The Jefferson Bible" and John Steinbeck's "Zapata", and   
   a math book for Mark.  "The Jefferson Bible" and the math book   
   were from their new "Annex", which contain vintage and antique   
   books, and dollar books.  This seems like an odd combination, but   
   the books are "antique", not "antiquarian", in the sense that they   
   are old but not rare and valuable.  (One of the dollar books they   
   had was a Greek interlinear New Testament; I can remember paying   
   $23 for one decades ago when $23 was real money.)   
      
   Once again, I cannot recommend this store highly enough.  It   
   specializes in science fiction and history, and has huge   
   selections of both, at very reasonable prices.  (For example, the   
   Orwell was my most expensive book, in pristine condition, for   
   $15.)  They have a web site, , if you   
   really are too far away to visit their store (which is set in a   
   quite charming little "cultural and arts village").  If you visit,   
   mention that the "Bucket Lady" sent you--I bring my books to sell   
   in old Costco/Kirkland detergent pails.  [-ecl]   
      
   ===================================================================   
      
                         Mark Leeper   
                         mleeper@optonline.net   
      
      
              All philosophies, if you ride them home, are nonsense,   
              but some are greater nonsense than others.   
   				            --Samuel Butler   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)