You remember the Gideon Society? They are the people who hand out copies of the Gospel in the street and who used to make sure that motel rooms each had a Bible in a drawer.
Hunter S Thompson was very grateful to them for those Bibles as when he was sitting in his motel room drunk or stoned and needing inspiration for his writing, he was grab the Gideon edition and read the Book of Revelation.
What I appreciate about the Gideons is that they are so moved by the Bible that they want to give copies away to people.
I used to feel that way, to some limited degree, about Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart Of Darkness and Mikail Bulgakov’s black comedy The Master And Margarita.
I now have another book I feel that way about: Lessons In Chemistry. I started reading it at Tullamarine airport yesterday whilst waiting for baggage drop off to open. A passing woman paused to tell me it’s one of her favourite books. I kept reading it in the departure terminal and then for the first part of my flight to Singapore.
I’m typing this on my phone so I will leave you to google the plot. Suffice that this book is sad, funny, moving and ultimately triumphant.
I will be buying lots of copies and giving them to my friends.
Lost For Words! 