Hurry! You Have T-Minus Three Hours To Get Your Dog-Eared Copies of Robert Ludlum, Tom Clancy (and Lots of Great Stuff).

By Joe Eskenazi Wed., May 20 2009 at 11:59 AM

Categories: Local News

Joe Eskenazi

Got lunch plans? Change 'em.

Who are the patron saints of rummage book sales? So many to choose from -- but, then, there are so many saints. Leon Uris, James Michener, Tom Clancy, Tony Hillerman, Ed McBain, Robert Ludlum, Harold Robbins, the authors of Time-Life hardbacks (such as Reptiles, Patagonia, and Guns of the Old West) -- we could go on. Fittingly enough, the undisputed Jesus of this group is Dan Brown; there are always enough copies of The Da Vinci Code stacked up at second-hand book sales to build an actual re-creation of Paris and demonstrate that the logistics of the chase scenes in the book make no sense at all.

In any event, the Friends of San Francisco Public Library is hawking all of these treasures -- and, quite honestly, a lot of really great stuff -- for a buck a book at the Mail Library at 100 Larkin (at Grove). You've got until 3 p.m.; if you've got even a remotely curious taste in literature and a few bucks to spend, you will walk away happy (or with a Scandanavian cookbook -- wow, herring again!).
The volunteers present told us they hope to raise $1,000 or more for the library -- and, really, how much can you complain when the books cost a dollar. Okay, there were Dr. Phil books there. Fair enough. But we also noticed I.B. Singer, James Joyce, and other authors you should read -- or will at least impress people who glance at your bookshelf.