Adventures in Marketing: Weeks 536.5 – 546
I had stopped selling my books at the cafe even before my hospitalization. When I got back, another fellow was selling books he’d written, and a third was selling an anthology he had poems in and a fourth was selling pocket knives and belt buckles and mini-stoves for camping. (Actually, I haven’t seen any of them sell anything.) But even without trying I have been getting my product out there.
1.) An ex-newspaper reporter/ex-lawyer, who had been a year behind me in college, bought a “Bob on Bob.” He had recently seen Dylan in concert and was one of those who expected him to play what and sound as he did in 1965. Don’t people check out set lists? Don’t they listen to albums from the last 60 years. He didn’t; he was bummed; apparently he wanted to know what I thought of the changes time has wrought.
2.) Faithful readers will recall Glory, the schizophrenic with a manic depressive overlay, who had been born in Philadelphia but came to San Francisco as a child. Glory’s illnesses prevent her from reading books, but she had sent a copy of “Cheesesteak” to her 90-year-old mother, who has dementia. Her mother loved it, especially the chapter on Puddles (p.10), which she reads over and over. Glory decided to send copies to six cousins of hers, all of whom live in Philadelphia. I gave her a discount for buying in bulk.
3.) After I got out of the hospital, I felt an urge to contact people from my past I hadn’t been in touch with for a while. Partly it was about time and partly it was to see who was still here. One was Lester, the jazz pianist, who towards the end of “Cheesesteak” (p. 95), replies when asked if he is going to college, “What, man, you mean be an everybody?” (This line had enough resonance for it to be recalled to my by the 20-something-year-old son of a friend from NYC who was visiting Berkeley the week before.) Anyway, Lester is fine, had, in fact, just played a gig with his trio at a restaurant on Chestnut Street and was so delighted at being quoted 60-years down the road, he asked for another copy, which I was delighted to send him.ALL OF BOB’S BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.THEBOBLEVIN.COM