Secret Books
I have a secret drawer in the nightstand by my bed. There are things within it that no proper English major should have. This is where I keep my secret books.
When you've spent your college career reading the great classics of English literature, you aren't supposed to read the stuff Dr. Phil writes. One can't pick up Candace Bushnell when she is sitting next to the Brontes and the Brownings. It seems impossible to place a two hundred and thirty page novel about a fashion crises on your bookshelf next to War and Peace. You can't have Weisberger next to Wordswoth. This is when the secret book drawer becomes a necessity.
It started with a Dr. Laura book that I really wanted to read but couldn't imagine the mockery that would follow or the uncomfortable conversations with feminist friends as to why I owned a book that mentioned feeding husbands. Then my friend gave me a book I didn't want my sisters to read and the collection grew.
It has become a handy tool since, gradually amassing a diverse and strange collection. Someday I imagine this is where I will keep my complete collection of Rodgers and Hammerstien musicals and Sex and the City trivia.
And this brings me to another topic. If the whole point of this drawer was secrecy, then why am I writing about it on the internet? I was going to go somewhere with this question, but I don't have an answer, so I am going to get back to singing along with The Sound of Music.
When you've spent your college career reading the great classics of English literature, you aren't supposed to read the stuff Dr. Phil writes. One can't pick up Candace Bushnell when she is sitting next to the Brontes and the Brownings. It seems impossible to place a two hundred and thirty page novel about a fashion crises on your bookshelf next to War and Peace. You can't have Weisberger next to Wordswoth. This is when the secret book drawer becomes a necessity.
It started with a Dr. Laura book that I really wanted to read but couldn't imagine the mockery that would follow or the uncomfortable conversations with feminist friends as to why I owned a book that mentioned feeding husbands. Then my friend gave me a book I didn't want my sisters to read and the collection grew.
It has become a handy tool since, gradually amassing a diverse and strange collection. Someday I imagine this is where I will keep my complete collection of Rodgers and Hammerstien musicals and Sex and the City trivia.
And this brings me to another topic. If the whole point of this drawer was secrecy, then why am I writing about it on the internet? I was going to go somewhere with this question, but I don't have an answer, so I am going to get back to singing along with The Sound of Music.
posted by Cate at 4:22 PM
4 Comments:
Dang! THat works for me too.
i respect what you're doing.
All these comments on other blogs, yet no new blog of your own...
Hi Cate. Just checking in, and I have to say I really like the secret drawer idea. When one is a literature teacher married to a literature teacher, one needs a secret place for certain books. I have not yet subscribed (secretly, of course) to People Magazine, but I show up to doctors' appointments early, just in case they have it. Shhh... Christy Hinrichs P.S. We are trying to brainstorm a way to come up to BIOLA soon and would love to take you up on your dinner offer. I'll email you when I have more details.:)
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