A book I should have bought but didn’t
Earlier this month I went to the Times Colonist book sale – a massive charity sale featuring thousands of secondhand books here in Victoria, BC. I was sorting through the sports section, which was packed with terrible books on hockey and golf, when I came across this book – the Frisbee Players’ Handbook by Mark Danna and Dan Poynter.
I was initially taken by the interesting shape of the book, partly circular, and then I thought ‘Blimey, that guy on the front cover is wearing some pretty tight shorts.’
I thumbed through it and saw lots of instructions on how to throw a frisbee, and I thought: ‘Blimey, you need a book to tell you how to throw a frisbee? Don’t you just throw it?’
Danna and Poynter put together 180 pages and 350 photographs on throwing a damn frisbee. If ever a book showed what was important in California in 1978, then this is it. What a great period piece!
Now here is the kicker! I didn’t buy it. I can’t remember why. What an idiot! I could have bought it for $2 and there is a copy on the site for $200. Never mind the fact that this book is becoming rather obscure, it would have been a fun book to have on my bookshelf at home.
I guess I’ll buy one from AbeBooks.
This looks like one of those books the librarians at awfullibrarybooks.net would have giddily culled.
That’s why I wanted it. A real piece of late 1970s kitsch!