After breakfast today, I went to the local street market and happened upon an unfamiliar book vendor. As a rare book aficionado myself, I have to say that I know most of the book vendors fairly well. However, I have never met this one before! The last few years have been spent in rigorous search of all the right books to restore my library, so I did not pass up the opportunity to peruse this new assortment.

To my disappointment, all of the books I saw were tattered and commonplace. Nothing of use there, sadly. When I was turning to be on my way, the vendor stopped me to ask what I was looking for. I explained that I was a book collector, but my collection had been destroyed in a fire, and I was looking to restore it. The vendor then pulled out a book from beneath his stand. Its cover was pristine white and red letters blocked across the front of it: Fahrenheit 451.

“This is a very rare book, indeed,” the vendor told me. “It’s the very first edition, signed by Bradbury himself! You say your books were burned? I think you’ll find this one quite a gem for your collection.”

And that is how I ended up coming home with this book. I must confess I’ve never read it, so I think I shall spend my afternoon doing so. Now to brew a pot of coffee…