Mark Phillips' Pages: Workbook: 7/6/12: Used books at the Internet café.

Jacob Lawrence, "Supermarket — Gifts for the Homeless" (1994) — Jacob Lawrence, *Supermarket — Gifts for the Homeless* (1994)

July 6, 2012:

Used books at the Internet café. Plath, Stein, Capote, the ubiquitous Steinbeck. 50 cents paper, 1 dollar hard. Floor to ceiling cases near the door.

Street people browse and buy. It's their bookstore. Dirty hoodies and sunburns, leafing Cannery Row. Panhandle half a buck, read a classic.

At the tables professionals trade strategies for managing upcoming salary negotiations. "What's in it for me?", one asks her friend, with juice. "Bottom line."