Scavenging for books

Posted by trav in Birmingham, News, On the Web      1 comment

Jan
21

I’ve heard of book scouting. Ever since reading John Dunning’s Booked To Die I have romantcized that I could amass enough book-knowledge to make a living squeezing every last undiscovered rare volume from local bookstores. But, I haven’t quit my day job yet… but this great article in the NY Times is one of the first times I’ve heard of book scavanging as a living.

I can’t imagine going through the trash here in Birmingham and finding enough discarded books of value to feed yourself. Which is about all the money the two guys featured in the article need, because they are homeless. What a quirky turn to the story. I’m not saying them being homeless is a good thing, I’m just saying that it made for an interesting news article.

It also tipped me off to Mitchell Duneier’s Sidewalk, which I had never heard of. But is now on my list, as the author uses these street salesmen to address the “Broken Windows” strategy/theory of cleaning up a neighborhood, which our new mayor has just begun to employ across Birmingham.

{via BookChase}