C

She
SAYS

:!*

Seeking marital bliss in
a bed full of books.

1970 on the subject of lack of free-
was always OK with standing
dom and motherhood. I was afraid
under the chuppah and pledg-
my beloved, slender volumes of con-
ing my life to my husband
fessional poetry would be invaded,
Aaron. But as a bibliomaniac, I
outnumbered and overpowered by
still think some things should not be
his big, fat war and history
shared.
tomes.
Uniting our bedrooms,
He also insisted I give
households, hearts, souls,
up my filing system
bank accounts and crazy
favorite books of the sea-
Jewish families is easy. The
son piled on top of each
connection I dreaded was
other on the closest shelf.
meshing our books. I said
Aaron said we should
separate shelves; he said this
arrange according to such
is a- complete commitment
subjects as drama, autobi-
that requires combining our
ography, art. What he real-
rag-tag, though cherished,
SUSAN
ly meant was that I'd have
libraries.
SHAPIRO
to live with the additions
Although I've been a book
Special
Of baseball, basketball, sci-
critic for 10 years, Aaron
to The
ence fiction, thrillers and
competitively insists he has
Jewish News
comic books.
more books than I do. I say
Then again, he'd have to
quality counts, not quantity.
cope with psychology, fem-
Much of his non-fiction was haphaz-
inism, Israeli poets, criticism and
ardly stacked in piles on his floor,
Hebrew (left over from college). I
under his bed frame and on his win-
said his comics don't 'count as books.
dow_ sills, so it's hard to count. I admit
He said my self-help paperbacks
he has more hardcovers and first edi-
count as comics.
tions, but he's 11 years older, and
He said my literary journals go on
writing for film and television he
the bottom shelf. I said they rate
makes 11 times my salary.
higher space than his Computers for
Yet when it comes to galleys (one of
Dummies series and the encyclopedia
the perks of book reviewing) and
he got for his bar mitzvah. I suggest-
authors' signatures (exacted,
ed we put a name or imprint inside
unabashedly, at readings and book par-
each one in case we split up. He said
ties over the years), I win hands down.
books are like the Torah; you never
Everyone knows a signed galley over-
mar the pages.
rides a first-edition hardcover any day.
Then I wanted a prenuptial pact
Aaron's amassed more male
by publisher to protect my Copper
authors of books written before
Canyon Presses and Knopfs.
1950, often about freedom and
And what about the many writers
brotherhood. I seem to have found
we've collected who cross genres? He
more female writers of books after
said Dorothy Parker goes in fiction. I
said poetry. He said Stephen Dobyns
Susan Shapiro, a Bloomfield Hills
is mystery. I said poetry. He said
native, is a New York City-based free-
Robert Polito is biography. I said
lance writer whose first poetry collec-
poetry. He said Philip Roth goes in
tion, "Internal Medicine," debuted this
fiction. I said, "What about
year.
Paternity?"

I

10/1•
1997

92

So he suggested we alphabetize by
author. Yet I didn't want his Roger
Angell next to Maya Angelou any
more than he wanted his Greenes
(Graham and Bob) next to Gael's
Blue Skies No Candy. Nor did I want
his wolves (Geoffrey, Tom and
Thomas) surrounding my Naomis
and Virginias.
We have many doubles and at
least we agree that no couple really
needs two copies of the Rabbit trilo-
gy, Mario Cuomo's diaries or the
complete collection of Isaac Bashevis
Singer stories. He argued that we
should give away the extra copies.
When I asked, "Whose extra copy?"
He said, "The one in worse shape."
So I suggested the second copies
should be the only ones we lend to
friends and colleagues and that we
should write slips to keep track of
well-meaning thieves. He said I'm
too territorial and that borrowing
and lending books is part of the fun.
Of course, he also thinks it's fun
to share bounties; it's not as much
fun for me, since I receive hundreds
of books to review. I leave the
reviewer's copies I don't write about
in a . box to sell back to the bookstore
each week. Because he gave me an
engagement ring, Aaron thought he
could look through them and pull
out any titles he wants to keep for
himself. I said he has big eyes.
"Are you really going to read 700-
page biographies of Margaret
Thatcher, Tennessee Williams and
Irving Berlin within two months?" I
asked. He said we should have a two-
year reading rule.

-

Luckily we have some things in
common. We find an 11 p.m.
Saturday night excursion to a book-
store exciting and romantic. We both
give books as presents so often every-
one we know wishes we would dis-
cover scarves, candy or CDs. And, as
a political gesture, we both buy from
independent bookstores — even
though it means shelling out $3
more for the latest Martin Amis or
Oliver Stacks.
When we first dated, I was writing
a book column that ran weekly in a
local newspaper. We'd have dinner
on Saturday nights, and every
Sunday morning Aaron would call
about my column. While my last
beau offered such flattery as "Great
headline!" and "It ran longer than
usual," Aaron won my heart with th
message, "I'm intrigued you find
Jasmine the best Mukherjee. Can't
wait to read it."
The next Saturday I presented
him with the hard-cover copy.
(Crush or no crush, I always keep
the galley.) He knew I was serious
when I bought him a first edition
Herzog in mint condition. I knew he
was serious when he showed up wit
a signed galley of The Collected Poetry
of Yehuda Amichai.
Finally, we found a great loft big
enough to house all of our books,
and it's four blocks away from the
bookstore. We insisted on building
12-foot bookshelves before worrying
about such nonessentials as putting
up walls, air conditioning and
plumbing.

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