Relating to this TMI post, this restaurant, Meiwah, is the only Chinese establishment in the District of Columbia whose General Tso’s chicken does not leave me running around looking for a toilet before my ass violently decompresses.

The first bookstore I have a conscious memory of is the University of Maryland College Park’s Book Exchange. I asked my parents about it recently, but they said the only reason we shopped there was because it was so close to our house. I actually had a dream about it yesterday — all I remember is a red railing, and all I want to buy from it as a shirt with a store logo on it (do they sell those? They should!)

The second bookstore I have a conscious memory of is the old B. Dalton’s in, I think, White Flint Mall. It’s gone now, remodeled and replaced. I remember it had spiral stairs in the corners, with stacks of books on the landings, and the second floor was open to the first.

I’d always wanted to work in the bookstore, and when I was moving to DC, I contacted two bloggers familiar with the area for suggestions for independent bookstores, as working for one of the Big Two wasn’t something I really cared to do.

But, to be on the safe side, I went ahead and applied at the Big Two anyway. As fate would have it, it was indeed one of the Big Two which contacted me, and hired me. Politics and Prose sent me a nice e-mail explaining that they only hired full time employees, and I never heard from Olsson’s (now out of business) or Kramerbooks.

And of course, if you’ve read my blog for the last six months, you know that I have frequently written on the rocky financial ground the Bookstore is on. A series of bad business decisions nearly doomed the company, and while things seem sturdy, even with the economy, it wouldn’t take much to knock the Bookstore over.

In any case, I was saddened by the announcement that Vertigo Books is closing. Okay, I’d never heard of them before today’s DC Blog posting. And I never get out to College Park, so I never would have shopped there. Also, it probably wouldn’t have made much financial sense to shop there, since my discount at the Bookstore is 33%.

On the other hand, a closed bookstore is a sad bookstore. Of all the jobs I’ve had, I don’t think any has ever given me as much satisfaction — I mean, for all the stupid customers and other pains-in-the-ass that accompany a retail job — as the Bookstore. Having worked at locally owned stores before, I know how close a staff can become to one another. I’m sure that, for Vertigo’s employees, this is akin to losing their family.

When I think of Stevenson’s Treasure Island, there’s an image in my head: Jim Hawkins, pinned to the mast by a dirk, his face contorted in pain, blasts of fire from the pistols he holds, and Israel Hands, reeling backwards off the rigging, dead. I can only surmise that, when I was a boy, the book my dad read to me had illustrations, and that was one of them.

I would like to say I picked the book up largely on a whim, but that would be a lie. An advanced reader copy of a prequel, Flint and Silver, arrived at the Bookstore a week or two ago, and I read the first few chapters one day last week on break. I think, in the end, what galled me was that the editor, who included a letter, remarked that the author was on a par with Patrick O’Brien.

Let me just say, I’ve read a lot of Patrick O’Brien’s books. John Drake is no Patrick O’Brien. (And, that’s all I have to say about that, except that apparently Flint & Silver has been optioned as a film, so I would think a new version of Treasure Island will probably be in theaters within the next five years).

In any case, there were elements of Treasure Island that I remembered: the marooned sailor, Jim Hawkins stealing his way back onto Hispaniola, the death of Israel Hands, the defense of a stockade, and of course, the one-legged pirate-turned-cook-turned-pirate, Long John Silver himself. I had actually forgotten all about Billy Bones, and the apple barrel, and while Treasure Island is a short read (200 pages), it’s immensely enjoyable. What made it more so was the price: $4.95 – 40% discount + rewards points = FREE!

Fun Fact: Treasure Island is one of few books at the Bookstore that is shelved in two sections: Kids’ Books, and Literature/Fiction. Another is David Simon’s Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. The mass market is in True Crime, while the QP (with photos!) is in Law & Labor. Figure that one out.

Fun Fact II: I kind of wish I’d picked up the illustrated edition in the Kids’ section, because I think it might’ve had the picture of Israel Hand’s death that I remember.