The perfect book (perhaps)

Tucked away in a small area the size of a walk-in closet on the east end of the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia is a wonderful seller of new and used books. I try to visit the site whenever I am in the Terminal Market, which is an expereince in and of itself. There are hundreds of volumes cramped into the bookseller's little space. And there are gems to be found, though it takes some effort.

There are some broad categories -- fiction, religion and the occult, African-American, history, poetry, classics, Civil War, to name a few. But the books don't seem to be arranged in any decernible manner. On one wall -- and all the walls are small -- I found D.H. Lawrence and Dan Brown, Alice Walker and Agatha Christie, T.S. Elliot and somene named Mervin X.

There are new books and old, used books. Everything seemed dusty and everything, judging from the many volumes I picked up and examined, was overpriced -- way overpriced!

Which is why I spent so much time weighing whether to buy one book, which at the moment is nearly a perfect book for me. It is THE ART OF RENOIR by Albert C. Barnes and Violette de Mazia. Published by the Barnes Foundation in the 1930s and undoubtedly out of print for my entire lifetime, the book I saw was an early edition but not a first edition. And the bookseller wanted $25.

Since I might be able to find a copy at the Foundation and if not, perhaps, somewhere online, I decided against buying it. And if nothing else, I can have someone go back to the Reading Terminal Market to get it.

In the book, Barnes analyzes Renoir paintings. And he should have some insight into the subject. The Barnes Foundation collection has more than 180 Renior paintings.

But it is particularly good for me at the moment as I continue writing my current novel, THE DEATH OF ART, which involves the murder of a woman who works at the Barnes. Even without that, it looked like a fascinating book that I might like to have just because.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.