46、September 18,1952

                        14 East 95th St.
                        New York City

                        September 18, 1952

Frankie,  guess who came while you were away
on vacation? SAM PEPYS! Please thank whoever
mailed him for  me,  he  came  a  week  ago,
stepped  out  of four pages of some tabloid,
three  honest  navy-blue  volumes  of  him;
I  read  the  tabloid over lunch and started
Sam after dinner.
    He says to tell you he’s overJOYED to be
here,  he was previously owned by a slob who
never  even  bothered  to cut the pages. I’m
wrecking them, it’s the thinnest India paper
I ever saw.  We  call  it  “onion skin” over
here  and  it’s  a  good  name  for  it. But
heavier  paper  would  have  taken up six or
seven volumes so I’m grateful for the India.
I  only  have three bookshelves and very few
books left to throw out.
    I  houseclean  my books every spring and
throw  out  those  I’m  never  going to read
again  like  I  throw  out clothes I’m never
going to wear again.  It  shocks  everybody.
My  friends  are peculiar about books.  They
read all the best sellers,  they get through
them as fast as possible,  I think they skip
a lot. And they NEVER read anything a second
time  so  they don’t remember a word of it a
year later.  But they are profoundly shocked
to see me drop a book in the wastebasket or
give it away.  The way they look at it,  you
buy a book,  you read it,  you put it on the
shelf,  you never open it again for the rest
of  your  life  but  YOU DON’T THROW IT OUT!
NOT IF IT HAS A HARD COVER ON IT!  Why  not?
I  personally  can’t  think of anything less
sacrosanct  than  a  bad  book  or  even  a
mediocre book.
    Trust  you  and Nora had a fine holiday.
Mine was spent in  Central  Park,  I  had  a
month’s vacation from joey,   my dear little
dentist,   he   went   on   his   honeymoon.
i financed the honeymoon.  Did I tell you he
told  me  last  spring  I had to have all my
teeth capped or all my teeth out?  I decided
to  have  them  capped as I have got used to
having  teeth.    But  the  cost  it  simply
astronomical.  So  Elizabeth  will  have  to
ascend the throne without me,  teeth are all
I’m going to see crowned for the next couple
of years.
    i  do  NOT  intend to stop buying books,
however,  you  have  to have SOMEthing. Will 
you  see  if you can find me Shaw’s dramatic
criticism  please?   and   also   his  music
criticism? I think there are several volumes,
just send whatever you can find, now listen,
Frankie, it’s going to be a long cold winter
and  I  baby-sit  in the evenings AND I NEED
READING  MATTER,  NOW   DON’T  START SITTING
AROUND, GO FIND ME SOME BOOKS.

                                    hh

注释：
tabloid 小报，通俗小报; 文摘; 小型画报
step out of 从…走出去
stepped out of four pages of some tabloid 用四页报纸裹着
（直译：从四页报纸裹着的里面拿出来）
three honest navy-blue volumes of him 他的三卷扎实的海军蓝精装本
overjoyed 万分高兴的，欣喜若狂的
bother to 费心；懒得
over here 在这儿
the best sellers 畅销书
sacrosanct 极其神圣的，不可侵犯的
less sacrosanct 不那么神圣的
capped 给…戴帽；加盖于
have got used to doing 指已经习惯做某事
ascend the throne [法]登基
dramatic criticism 剧评；戏评
music criticism 乐评

收藏句子：

• I houseclean my books every spring and throw out those I’m never going to read again like I throw out clothes I’m never going to wear again.（虽然我还没开始扔过书，可能是我读的书太少了🤣 人家三个书架不够装，我一个小书架才刚好装满🤥）
• My friends are peculiar about books. They read all the best sellers, they get through them as fast as possible, I think they skip a lot. And they NEVER read anything a second time so they don’t remember a word of it a year later.（差点给作者说中了🤣 还好，好书我也是会去看第二遍、第三遍... 不过最近有段时间我好懒！好多新书都还没开始看。）
• 爱读书的人说什么都是对的。... 不接受反驳！