"A No Doubt Mad Idea"

[libertango]

...which will probably lead to another post about "influential" books, eventually, but for now, this:

"On to the library. And all through his time at the card catalog, combing the shelves, filling out the request cards, he danced a silent, flirtatious minuet of the eyes with a rosy-cheeked redhead in the biology section, pages of notes spread before her. All his life, he had had a yen for women in libraries. In a cerebral setting, the physical becomes irresistible. Also, he figured he was really more likely to meet a better or at least more compatible woman in a library than in a saloon. Ought to have singles libraries, with soups and salads, Bach and Mozart, Montaignes bound in morocco; place to sip, smoke, and seduce in a classical setting, noon to midnight. Chaucer's Salons, call them, franchise chain."

Comments

[hal-obrien.livejournal.com]

No, alas... It's from Stephen Minkin's A No Doubt Mad Idea, one of my favorite novels, which only had about 500 copies printed.

It's a blend of Northern California (Somona County-ish), the 1970s, and what Minkin calls ludics, the study of the playfulness in culture. Splendid book, check your local university library to see if they have it.