First saw this book high on a shelf in Harry Halls book shop many years ago, when i was a boy.I knew that if I had that book the world would suddenly make sense.That shop enabled my growing imagination in so many ways. The rows of Christmas annuals in particular made an indelable mark in my memory. I do believe it has influenced my own buying and collecting habits over a lifetime. And it really was a lifetime ago. Part of a former world almost all but passed.
I have probably mentioned this before but I find as I grow older my mind drifts back during the dream time to people and places which I no longer see or visit. I have often dreamed about that store in Gresham St and its layout to me is as familiar as our old living room in Etna Drive. No doubt there are many other readers out there who experience similar slipback in their resting hours. Who knows, maybe we will bump into each other in a dream.
