Today I set out for DC’s King Library to buy a few books in their used bookstore.
Now, I know this is generally a No-No, but the books I buy are almost always older and obscure academic books that are either out-of-print or would never blip my radar unless I stumbled across them at a library sale or used book store. So, technically there’s no replacement factor; the authors aren’t being robbed of royalties they would otherwise receive.
But, unknown to me when I set out, the King Library store is only open on weekdays. Undaunted, I decided to walk down the street toward the White House, a few blocks east of which is a Borders®.
demonocracy. Government by demons. Greek daimon, a ministering spirit; kratos, rule … There is also the form demonarchy (Greek arche, rule), which seems a better word to employ than demonocracy, lest one elide a syllable.
Oh where does the time go? Is it Thursday already?
There’s a whole lotta “self” going on in publishing, from the web-driven growth of self-publishing to the expectation of author self-promotion in traditional publishing.
Do you think the Norse god Odin, who takes advice from a severed head, rides an eight-legged horse, talks to ravens, sacrificed an eye and hanged himself in the pursuit of wisdom, would appreciate us referring to his day as “Hump Day”?!
I am revamping my j.nelsonleith.com website — where I used to host a political blog — as the official home of Leith Literary. I will, of course, transfer all the content from here, and leave a sticky note. Updates to come!
I have to confess a particularly deep connection to the events of 9/11. Not only was I scheduled to fly back to the mainland from visiting family in Hawai’i on that day, but I was working in counter-terrorism as an Arabic linguist at the time, I had studied Islam at university, and had foreseen this innovation in tactics years before while studying the origins of Wahhabi militancy.*
Mel Gibson’s latest screenplay is an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s mega-bestselling murder mystery, And Then There Were None … but using the original title.