Jul 14 2008
Books out of business
My last week in Houston for now. Leaving Friday for the Buenos Aires chaos so familiar to me. On my last Sunday in this city I decided that another visit to Galveston was a good idea. Galveston is the nearest port to Houston, and a small town very much in the American fashion. It looks highly conservative, as I imagine Cape Cod to be. There is not a hint of the Austin bravado, with naked gay parades and the like. No, sir. Galveston is prim and proper, a lady in a fake New Orleans dress.
Today I headed for Harborside Drive, on the other side of the sea, right at the tip of the island. I had a good lunch at Willie G’s Seafood and Steakhouse (well, I must finally face the good old days of fancy French restaurants may be over — at least for a while), and walked around the other side of town, closer to The Strand, right in the heart of the city. I saw a sign that read “antique books” right before me. That combination of words would be enough to draw me into the worst of suburbs in any city, or put me at risk of being kidnapped by guerrilla soldiers. No need here, where security standards differ highly from those I was forced to come to terms with in Bogota a week ago. As I walked enthusiastically to meet the lovely end of the corridor in the galleria that housed the store (imagine a Gallerie Vivienne, in pastel colors but with a touch of TGI Friday’s), I paused before the dark, spacious premises. The shop was closed. The sign declaring bankruptcy was slightly ambiguous. I think it read:
Antique books are out of business. Please ask for a key at shop number 2 if you are interested in buying books
Shop number 2 seemed on the verge of meeting a similar death, in the hands of capitalism gone sour. I should read this as a symbol of the decline of the American Empire, much in line with the death of Ancient Rome. Or else, I can simplify the issue, be less dramatic, and simply say that books are out of business in Galveston….Gumbo anyone?
