The Library Sale

On a sparkling Friday morning the in-box is empty and I have nothing better to do than drive down to the Golden Valley Library book sale. Though I'm not a member of the local "friends" group, the woman in charge lets me in to the pre-sale on the strength of my donations to the Hennepin County umbrella group. Compact discs are what I'm after, mostly.

Two dollars per CD? Shocking! And not a single jazz CD in the bunch! But that doesn't stop me. It's for a good cause, and even at that inflated price, it gives me the opportunity to take a few chances.

I walk away with fourteen CDs, and a few hours later I'm already pleased with some of the choices.

The Art of the Fiddle - a part of the Rounder Heritage Essential Folk series. Good, clean, raw fiddling, and as an added bonus, the accompanying pamphlet has photos and extended bios of these often little-known artists.

Thomas Tallis: Spem in Alium. I'm listening to it now, a haunting motet for forty voices, probably written in 1567. That's a lot of voices, though it doesn't sound much different that other massive choral works I've heard.

Altan: Island Angel. A lively recording from 1993 by the Irish folk supergroup.

Jimmy Dale Gilmore: Spinning Around the Sun. I once had a cassette tape of this classic album by the Cosmic Cowboy. I especially liked the steel guitar. Will I listen to it again? At least once.

The Baltimore Consort: On the Banks of the Helicon. It's described on the jacket as a collection of early music from Scotland. But I will never know what it sounds like, because the jewel case is empty.

Puntimayo Native American Odyssey, from the Inuit to the Incas. There are times when I really want to hear some Dakota drumming or some Inca piping. And I know nothing about Mohican music. However, a closer look (and a little listening) suggests that this CD contains quite a bit of pop and rock by indigenous groups. Hmm.

Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Another in the Rounder Heritage Series. Brash music for a wan season: Lent.

David Torn: Only Sky. The tracks on this ECM recording of Torn's work for guitar, electric oud, and far-out studio effects were recorded in real time. After listening to the ominous first track, "at least there was nothing," I would chalk this one up as a stinker.

The 100 Best Opera Classics. This 6 CD set, which was rung up as a single item, will be a fun one to queue up in the car and try to guess what opera each aria comes from.

In a room mostly filled with books on sale for a dollar, naturally I glanced here and there, and came away with a few items:

The Oxford Book of French-Canadian Short Stories. Something to read on the plane during our next trip Quebec?

Basil Willey: The Eighteenth Century Background.  I already have a copy of this outstanding survey. Now I have two.

Sarah Leah Chase: Pedaling Through Provence Cookbook. I had a copy of this book in my "stash" at the Bookmen for many years, but never got around to buying it. Black olive and Swiss chard tart, anyone?

Judy Rodgers: The Zuni Cafe Cookbook. I've never heard of the cafe, but this is a big, beautiful book. Thumbing through a few pages, I notice a recipe for sage pesto. We have a lot of unused sage in the garden, and winter is closing in. Let's give it a try.

Charles Lamb: The Essays of Elia. A very sturdy edition from the Heritage Press, complete with cardboard case. Skimming the introduction as I listen to Tallis's choral piece, I come upon an excerpt of Lamb's letter to William Words­worth describing how he felt upon retiring from several decades as an lowly office clerk.

“I came home FOR EVER on Tuesday in last week. The incomprehensibleness of my condition over­whelmed me. It was like passing from life into eternity ... I wandered about think­ing that I was happy, but feeling I was not. But that tumul­tuousness is passing off, and I begin to understand the nature of the gift.”