Each day, publishers from around the world mail books to my company, in hopes of getting them reviewed in a magazine with a subscription base of over four million. And each Friday, scores of rejects are put out to pasture, in front of my friend's office, where employees are free to take whatever they want. It is then we learn who among the staff is especially literary — and especially cheap.
Today, we were alerted hours ahead of time that picture books would be laid out at 5 p.m., and you could imagine the holiday "bargain shoppers" that descended in front of the designated area at said time. You should have seen this mob go to work. Around 50-70 people attacked the pile, leaving nothing in its wake. Hell, even "On This Date in NASCAR History" got picked up by a softball teammate with family in Virginia. You can't make this stuff up.
When the dust settled — and I was fully expecting someone to come out of the free-for-all with a serious head wound — only one book remained... Mother Earth: Through the Eyes of Women Photographers and Writers. (The problem, clearly, is that this was photography by women and not of women.)
I felt bad for the book. All the others had found good homes within seconds, and this one just sat on the floor, neglected and looking less like a free stocking stuffer and more like a piece of litter. I hope it has a happier life after it's been recycled into a cardboard box.
