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Kathleen : You were
spying on me, weren't you? You
probably rented those children.
Joe : Why would I spy on you?
Kathleen : Because I am your competition, which you
know perfectly well or you wouldn't have put up the
sign: "Just around the corner."
Joe : The entrance to our store is around the corner.
There's no other way of saying that. It's not the
name of our store. It's where it is. And you do not
own the phrase "around the corner."
Joe : What is that? What are you doing? What is that?
What are you doing? You're taking all the caviar?
That caviar is a garnish.
Joe : Look, the reason I came into your store because
I was spending the day with Annabel and Matt. I was
buying them presents. I'm the type of guy who likes
to buy his way into
the hearts of children who are his relatives. There was
only one place to find a children's book in the
neighborhood. That won't
always be the case. And it was
yours. And it is a charming little bookstore. You
probably sell, what, $350,000 worth of books in a
year?
Kathleen : How did you know that?
Joe : I'm in the book business.
Kathleen : I am in the book business.
Joe : I see. And we are the Price Club. Only instead
of a ten-gallon vat of olive oil for $3.99 that
won't even fit under your kitchen cabinet, we sell
cheap books. Me, a spy? Oh! Absolutely! I have in my
possession the super-duper secret printout of the
sales figures of a bookstore so
inconsequential, yet
full of its own virtue that I was immediately
compelled to rush over for fear it will gonna put me out of business.
What? What?
Frank : Hi. How you doing? Frank Navasky.
Joe : Joe Fox.
Frank : Joe Fox.
Joe : F-O-X.
Frank : The inventor of the superstore. Of course.
The enemy of the Mid-list Novel. The destroyer of
City Books. Tell me something really, how do you
sleep at night?
Patricia : I use a wonderful
over-the-counter drug.
"Ultra-dorm." Don’t take
the whole thing. Just half. You'll
wake up without even the tiniest hangover. You're
Frank Navasky, aren't you?
Frank : Yes.
Patricia : Your last piece in the Observer about
Anthony Powell was, was brilliant. Brilliant! Yes.
I'm Patricia Eden. Eden Books. Joe. This man is the
greatest living expert on Julius and Ethel
Rosenberg.
Frank : You really liked, liked my-
Joe : This is Kathleen Kelly.
Frank : My piece? I’m sorry. I just—you know,
I'm flattered.
You write these things. You think somebody's gonna
mention them. A week goes by and the phone doesn't ring and
you start to think: "I'm a fraud. I'm a failure or
something."
Patricia : You know what always fascinated me about
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? Is how old they looked
when they were really just our age? You know? I'm so
happy to have finally met you. We’ll talk. Have you
ever thought about doing a book?
Frank : It's crossed my
mind, if there's something relevant for
the day
like the Luddite movement in 19th century England
or something. We should talk. Call me. |
