The Fascination of a Used Book Sale

Lincoln Library book sale ...

I've been going to the annual used book sale at Springfield's Lincoln Library for about 25 years. To say that it's an event I look forward to is an understatement: I didn't even miss it the wonderful day in 1988 that Ron and I got married -- I just hit the sale in the morning before the small ceremony across the street at First Pres. (It was a pretty good day)!

... and later that day.

The sale is always on a Friday and Saturday in June, but for some reason, I didn't make it to this year's sale till late Saturday morning, when most of the "good" paperbacks were gone. There were still a lot of hardbacks left though, and one of many that I snagged was Clyde Edgerton's novel Redeye: A Western.

I was intrigued by the cover, which showed a mean-looking dog with one red eye. I'd read one book by Edgerton years ago as part of the Rochester library reading group -- an immensely enjoyable book about an old lady and a young delinquent called Walking Across Egypt. Edgerton has a deadpan humor that can lighten even the most grave situation, so I prepared to be amused by the thin novel.

I wasn't disappointed. Not only was I entertained by the book's unique format -- it is told in short chapters from the points of view of many characters ranging from a mortician to an Indian to a dewy young maiden, but I also learned about a real historical incident: the The Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre

The Mountain Meadows Massacre took place in Utah in 1857 when 120 men, women, and children were killed by a group of Mormons with the help of local Paiute Indians. Traveling from Arkansas to California, the group had  been the subject of five days of attacks and had circled their wagons for safety. On September 11, militiamen waving a white flag entered camp and convinced the emigrants to surrender peacefully. The women and children were escorted out first, then the men and boys. After walking about a mile, the militiamen turned and fired on the men and boys while the Indians attacked the women and children. Seventeen children younger than seven survived.

Because the chapters are written in the first-person, you get a very clear idea of what each character is thinking, but the reader must piece together the plot. And, as if changing points of view weren't complicated enough, the book also hops among three time frames: 1857, 1892 and 1915. This kind of writing is harder to do than it looks but Edgerton accomplishes it seamlessly. Oddly enough, the way the story unfolds only adds interest to the already fascinating tale.

Redeye was a great read and some parts were laugh-out-loud funny. Used book sales are fantastic way to be exposed to fiction you might not normally read -- and at a fraction of the cost. And now I can "recycle" Redeye for another avid book lover to discover at next year's sale.