I had never wanted to be one of those girls in love with boys who would not have me. Unrequited love - plain desperate aboveboard boy-chasing - turned you into a salesperson, and what you were selling was something he didn't want, couldn't use, would never miss. Unrequited love was deciding to be useless, and I could never abide uselessness. Neither could James. He understood. In such situations, you do one of two things - you either walk away and deny yourself, or you do sneaky things to get what you need. You attend weddings, you go for walks. You say, yes. Yes, you're my best friend, too.
Elizabeth McCrackenFor some people, history is simply what your wife looks good standing in front of. Itโs whatโs cast in bronze, or framed in sepia tones, or acted out with wax dummies and period furniture. It takes place in glass bubbles filled with water and chunks of plastic snow; itโs stamped on souvenir pencils and summarized in reprint newspapers. History nowadays is recorded in memorabilia. If you canโt purchase a shopping bag that alludes to something, people wonโt believe it ever happened.
Elizabeth McCrackenUnrequited loveโplain desperate aboveboard boy-chasingโturned you into a salesperson, and what you were selling was something he didn't want, couldn't use, would never miss. Unrequited love was deciding to be useless, and I could never abide uselessness.
Elizabeth McCrackenPeople think librarians are unromantic, unimaginative. This is not true. We are people whose dreams run in particular ways. Ask a mountain climber what he feels when he sees a mountain; a lion tamer what goes through his mind when he meets a new lion; a doctor confronted with a beautiful malfunctioning body. The idea of a library full of books, the books full of knowledge, fills me with fear and love and courage and endless wonder.
Elizabeth McCrackenAnd while I was not an admirer of people in the specific, I liked them in the abstract. It is only the execution of the idea that disappoints.
Elizabeth McCracken