BOOKMARK THURSDAYS

Things I find in my books and the books of others

THINGS I HAVE USED FOR A BOOKMARK IN A BOOK AND REMAIN THERE AS SOUVENIRS OF THAT TIME I READ THOSE BOOKS
A dollar bill. MUNI pass from 1987. “Sanitized for your protection” toilet band from a hotel in Tucson in 1996. A descriptive notice by the late great Stuart Brent for a book sent to me as part of his marvelous totalitarian book club in 1989 typed on a manual typewriter. My own book review of Ishiguro’s When We Were Orphans from the SF Chronicle. Laura and Barry Moon’s address in Australia in the mid-80s. Five-dollar bill. Digits from that dreamy boy. Pressed sample of poison milkweed in a guidebook about plants in the desert. Ticket to SF Opera’s production of Khovanschina. Invitation to the art opening of Guy Kitchen who died the night after I saw him crying during intermission at that SF Opera production of Khovanschina. Letter about what happened to that tiki statue of Waagbo. My own business cards from all those businesses. Party invite from people I don’t remember. Reassuring letter about Thurber’s blanket from my brother. Perfume sample paddle. Plane ticket to Spain. Snippy letter from Andrei Codrescu complaining about my bad review of his novel (“This academic-feminist [sic] cat believes he has been fed a delicious canary. But please note that your cat has doo-doo in his mouth”. What else? I’ll let you know!

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