A Kiss on the Hand May Be Quite...

It's been a shitty week. I was going to say "a super shitty week," but I'm going to reserve that appellation for situations wherein I think I might get the shit beat out of me, like two weeks ago, for instance. But a shitty week, for sure. So after I dropped my son off at work I decided to spend one of my three hours Off Duty by going to Barnes & Noble.

My sister gave me a gift certificate to B&N for Christmas. I'd visited both Louisville stores a couple of times, but I hadn't happened upon anything I really felt that I needed to have. Also, I kept hoping that I would spot a copy of The Continental Literary Magazine. I'd run across an ad for this new magazine somewhere, and I had a FEver for it. (Because (1) it's Hungarian (-ish), (2) it's a new literary magazine trying to survive in a world which doesn't give many grams of shit about literary magazines, and (3) the first issue boasted an interview with Noam Chomsky, who has long been one of my biggest heroes. But I met with no luck on any of those visits. 

I also called one of the stores...and was told that they'd never heard of The Continental. And I emailed Barnes and Noble central and was told

And I emailed The Continental directly and got no reply at all. 

I could have purchased it (1) in print, (2) in digital form, or (3) as a subscription online, but there was some funky pay thing that I didn't feel good about using, and no other options, so I kept thinking that I'd find another way to get my hands on it.

I checked Amazon. (And you know I hate Amazon.) I checked eBay. Nope and nope. I tried to think if there was anybody I knew who lived in New York City who might be willing to pick up a copy and mail it to me--because you KNOW that there would be copies available in NYC. And yes, I had one good possibility and another fair to middling possibility. 

But hope springs eternal, and I really wanted to pluck this off of a shelf with my own two. 

So today I stopped at The Paddock B&N again, and did a quick scan of the News(-y) magazines. (It's always best not to rely on the perspicacity of strangers.) Nope. I rounded the corner and looked at the "Art" magazines. I immediately spotted a copy of Analog and picked that up, then started scanning all of the titles, starting with The Strand top left and proceeding row by row by row to the final title at bottom right. Started to walk away when it hit me:

Holy shit! It's The Continental! 

My heart leaped up when I beheld
This Hungarian gadfly....

I plucked it from its perch and cradled it to my breast. When we both had quieted a bit, I checked to see how many copies were still on the shelf: 1, 2, 3, 4. Hmmm. Well, maybe there were more in the back, y'know? And maybe the other B&N has it on their shelf now, too. But the price is a bit steep: $19.90. 

But it seemed like a great deal to me. So I paid up, using most of my Gift Card, and carefully drove my baby home.

Picture taken in parking lot, no need to lecture me about using the phone camera whilst driving.

And now...I'm going to peel that plastic cover off and settle in for a good long read.

So...if you (1) like to support literary magazines, (2) want to help out an underdog in tough times, (3) like things Hungarian, (4) like Noam Chomsky, or (5) All of the Above, then act now and scoop up your copy!

More news as it happens.