Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Ethereal Fascination at the Largest Flea Market in the United States

I just started reading Killer Stuff and Tons of Money by Maureen Stanton, which I've had in my stacks since it came out last June. Stanton examines the antiques trade through a dealer named Curt Avery (Names have been changed), and it's utterly fascinating.

Right now, she's at Brimfield, "the country's largest outdoor flea market and antiques show." She's helped Avery set up his space and people are walking through, looking for certain items, such as a one-legged man who, for thirty years at Brimfield, has asked for cast iron cookware. But I love this image the most in this chapter:

"A girl in her twenties breathlessly asks, "Musical instruments?" as she moves quickly from table to table. I hear her voice like a lyric, "Sir, do you have any musical instruments?" A polite, almost plaintive call that fades as she hurries along the rows."

Beautiful.

3 comments:

  1. Those lines are very succinct and describe the experience very well.

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    1. I want to write something about her. She might fit in the novel I'm working on (not as the main female character, though), or she might merit her own short story. Your reply is the first time I've read that since I posted it, and she's even stronger in my imagination.

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