(Heartbreaker, image by Chris Spollen)
Temptation…the word instantly conjures up images, most frequently of a sexual nature. If you are a bibliophile, a book lover, a collector and hoarder of the written word then you know another kind of temptation: that of being seduced by shiny covers, by intriguing titles, by authors who have satisfied your book lust in the past. How do we fight that temptation? Do we fight that temptation? If you are anything like me, you are constantly being drawn aside from your daily tasks by sweet nothings whispered in your ear, promises of a ‘good time’, of delicious ecstasy.
“It wouldn’t hurt to just take a peek”, you say to yourself, as the book gently purrs its promises. “I could just open it up a bit; read the jacket blurb”…and then it hits you: the book’s intoxicating perfume of ink and new paper, the eye candy of the tantalizing cover, the written promises of pleasure if you would just take it home…“you can always bring me back”, the book whispers.
Then, as you walk away, hooked from the moment you felt the touch of the book against your fingers, you can hear some of the books coquettishly giggling, while others murmur enticements, showing a bit of cover, to tempt you yet again. “If one is fun, surely two would be even more so, or three”…and it goes on and on. Books flirt, they vie for one’s attention, they wolf whistle…they make it so very difficult to resist.
This is one man’s story of a typical day of succumbing to temptation:
Continue reading Temptation Tuesday: or, the Art of Seduction
