Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 8/18 - Honorable

A retired upstate carpenter who died last week got the last laugh, leaving an obit filled with hilarious parting shots at friends and family. Jeffrey Albert Rieck, 61, of Middletown, had drafted the paid notice a few days before succumbing to cancer. In it, he zings his “good for nothing but beloved” sister, his “no sense of humor” son, and his ex-wife, “whose house he whole-heartedly built and is thankful he will never have to perform another renovation on again.” There’ll be no memorial, it says, because “he would prefer that no one gawks at him while he is deceased.” The obit was rejected by his local paper. Two New Jersey papers ran it. (Culled from the NY Post, edited by yours truly.) RIP, sir.

I made my Monday excursion to Park Slope and it looked like it would be a big winner. I found a parking spot less than a hundred feet from the corner of 5th Street and 7th Avenue, which allowed me to bring out the floating book shop's full arsenal. A school safety van parked at the curb at my back, which hid me from any officer in a bad mood passing in a patrol car. Although police have hassled me only once since I've been selling books full time, I'm always wary of them. I will go quietly if shooed away. Anyway, I was further encouraged when a nanny bought a romance novel minutes after I'd opened for business. Then there was nothing for a couple of hours, until a young, very pregnant woman asked about Mary Monroe's God Don't Make No Mistakes, which was a handsome large print edition. When I told her it was two bucks, she jumped on it. Finally, I sold a beautiful pictorial I've had on display for a month: Dan Madigan's Mondo Lucha A Go-Go: The Bizarre and Honorable World of Wild Mexican Wrestling. I have to laugh at "honorable" and "wrestling" being used in the same sentence, at least regarding the pro version. Also, shouldn't it be mundo? According to spanishdict.com, mondo means "plain." Anyway, it was bought by a tall, long-haired, tattooed guy, non-Hispanic, I believe. I'm surprised it took so long to move. It is filled with lush color photographs.

Thanks, folks.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Horror Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp
Vic’s Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx