Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Twain Brings on my Kindle Epiphany

I mean I didn't physically buy it. Not yet. But I get it. I understand why someone would own this flat rectangle for reading. It is not that it is more convenient to carry around and that you don't have to lug books although that is attractive. Or that it holds a thousand books. That's cool too. Or that you can whip it out anywhere and read it for a few moments then flip it off and slip it back in your purse or briefcase. What got me finally to understand the appeal of this technology is Mark Twain's Autobiography.

Alright. I am out of books to read. For a writer, death. I need to find something after Franzen's brick and the dog narrator book. So I want to read Twain's Autobiography. Perfect. So I trudge around to some bookstores. Nope. Sorry we have them here on reserve for other people. How about letting me buy one of those? Nope. Sorry. Huh. So I end up at the coffee shop with nothing to read because stupidly I forgot to bring any kind of reading material. Burn through the NY Times and there is...what? So I started thinking. Man I would do anything to read that biography, hell I would even read it online.

But here is the real epiphany. I wouldnt' have to trudge to a bookstore and have another salesperson tell me they don't have the book but I could order it. No. I don't want to order the book. I want it NOW. I want to read the book right now! So sorry. Shite! So I sit here in the coffee shop and yes I would gladly have a Kindle right now to download Twain and starting reading. I don't care about the texture, the cool photos, the cover with Twain looking like he is hung over...I just want to read the book.

So there is my Kindle epiphany. Ultimately convenience trumps all. If you can sit in a corner and zap in a book well it is better than driving into some strip mall and getting bombarded by all those books you don't want to only find they don't have the book you do want. I have even considered taking the train to the city to buy the book from a bookstore I know has it. So that journey would be hours and expensive and make me question my sanity for the thousandth time. Or, I could just download the book and like the ad says start reading in seconds. Hmmm...Maybe I should buy one. You think?

Rocket Man will be out in January

Books by William Hazelgrove