The Beautiful Kind

In Alton, Illinois, there’s a used bookstore called Second Reading Book Shop. The place’s most remarkable features are the proprieter, John Dunphy, and his two bookstore cats. The place smells like it has bookstore cats, and John is a total trip.

As soon as I walked in, he promoted his slim volumes of poetry. In general, poetry scares me, especially the poetry of someone alive and standing in front of me, so I politely acknowledged the fact that he is indeed published and made my way into the stacks. Um, some of the books were more like Fourth Reading After Being Dropped in the Toilet, but hey, it added character. And mold.

John turned his attention to Brisket, the cat pictured. He announced it was time for her brushing. He rolled around on the floor with her for several minutes, cooing and baby talking, “Oh yes Miss Brisk, does that hit the spot? Daddy’s doing the best he can, Miss Brisk! You are a very demanding kitty! Yes, I will try harder. No, I won’t brush you all day Miss Brisk, Daddy has work to do! There, your coat is all shiny now!”

He called over to me from the floor to make sure and buy something, since it would benefit the cat children. I couldn’t bring myself to buy his book of poetry, and I passed on a 1940’s copy of The Trials and Tribulations of Mr. Bowser since it was falling apart, but got a book on magic ghost tricks for kids instead. And then I vanished, poof!