George's World

By G. E. Shuman

It is difficult for a person to hide a thing like blatant self-promotion.  You can always try, but, somehow, people usually see right through it.  So, I decided to ask myself the question “Why Bother?” and I got the answer “You shouldn’t.”  I now ask you to please tolerate the following example of just such self-promotion.
The thing is, I have recently published a new book, and I’d like to tell you about it here.  Actually, the book is very new, but its contents are anything but.  Those contents consist of a fairly complete compilation of columns that my friend Gary Hass has allowed me to taint this wonderful newspaper of his with for the past eighteen years.  That sentence was a mouthful.  The book is many mouths full.
I think George’s World is a book that you should buy.  That is not because of the glorious contents of the book, but more because the columns are short. At 740 pages and several inches thick, such a book appears to be a ponderous undertaking in publishing, and even more so, in reading.  As such, George’s World is the perfect book for you to read at the beach next summer.  You just cannot avoid having the look of sophisticated intelligence while cracking such a large volume open to the middle and staring intently and wistfully at a page.  None of the beautiful beach passers-by ever need to know that you are only reading a little one or two page story.  It is true that you could attempt the same effect with a copy of War and Peace, but no one would fall for it.  No one reads War and Peace at the beach, and everyone knows that.
This new book of mine can be purchased at The Next Chapter, in downtown Barre, or ordered through any other fine bookstore.  It can also be seen at the publisher’s site, Xlibris.com, and at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.  I guess all of these book sellers know how valuable it will be at the beach next summer.
All kidding aside, (Who am I kidding? I can’t put all kidding aside.)  I think you will enjoy owning George’s World.  You might even learn a few things when you read it.  I know I did.  As the cover states, ‘I hope you will buy this book, as I would like to sell it.’