Somewhere a book entitled (I think) My Life as a Burmese Princess exists. This book was brought to my attention by the admirable catalog, A Common Reader, which was to books as J. Peterman is to clothes (but more so). The J. Peterman Company went out of business while I was in college, which was much lamented as it provided a beloved dance entertainment, read by Mrs. Bear and acted out by young men who may or may not have had a beer or two to prep for the role. In looking for something to link to, I just discovered that the catalog has renewed its fountains of strangely inspired prose, which is good for the world but bad for my proportion.
A Common Reader also entered my life while at college, and in the same way, in the form of a catalog addressed to a former student, abandoned in the mail room. (I sometimes wonder what bulk mail addressed to me is spicing up the life of the current students.) Almost every book in it was wonderful. It had, among other things, the full Bagthorpe saga. However, it sold books at list price (plus shipping), and although the worthy publishers of the catalog deserved every penny of that exorbitant amount, I still got the books from the library or amazon.com. Which is probably why the catalog no longer exists.
I've also noticed a dramatic falling-off in used bookstores since amazon.com hit its stride about five or six years ago. My adolescent favorite was in the basement of the Magic Lantern Theatre, a short walk from the downtown bus station--now a mere memory. Remaining used bookstores tend to have ridiculous prices, and generally send an outraged me back to my computer. So although I regret some of its effects, I can't say that I regret amazon.com's existence--the most I can say is that I sometimes feel guilty over it.
The book in question is actually Twilight over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess. (Information and link courtesy of amazon.com).
