WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.720 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.720 --> 00:00:01.495 align:middle line:90% Thank you. 00:00:01.495 --> 00:00:02.370 align:middle line:90% It's nice to be here. 00:00:02.370 --> 00:00:04.380 align:middle line:90% It's nice to be invited. 00:00:04.380 --> 00:00:08.358 align:middle line:84% It's nice to have a chance to read in such good company. 00:00:08.358 --> 00:00:09.900 align:middle line:84% Like the rest of you, I'm really here 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:12.621 align:middle line:84% to see what David reads, talking about [INAUDIBLE].. 00:00:12.621 --> 00:00:18.768 align:middle line:84% [LAUGHING] But hopefully it will be somewhat entertaining. 00:00:18.768 --> 00:00:21.593 align:middle line:90% 00:00:21.593 --> 00:00:23.260 align:middle line:84% I've been traveling around a little bit. 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:25.343 align:middle line:84% I do have this new book that came out this spring, 00:00:25.343 --> 00:00:27.790 align:middle line:84% and I've been reading from it all over the place. 00:00:27.790 --> 00:00:28.620 align:middle line:90% It's a novel. 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:30.540 align:middle line:84% And it's hard to read from the novel for me, 00:00:30.540 --> 00:00:32.805 align:middle line:84% because I do a lot of exposition. 00:00:32.805 --> 00:00:36.580 align:middle line:84% So I'm going to take this chance to read something else. 00:00:36.580 --> 00:00:38.580 align:middle line:84% This is a short story, which is a love 00:00:38.580 --> 00:00:41.220 align:middle line:90% story set in Philadelphia. 00:00:41.220 --> 00:00:43.350 align:middle line:84% And the name of the story is Blooms. 00:00:43.350 --> 00:00:47.670 align:middle line:90% 00:00:47.670 --> 00:00:49.380 align:middle line:84% "I took a job no one else wanted. 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:52.470 align:middle line:84% And I learned many things I would never have believed. 00:00:52.470 --> 00:00:54.510 align:middle line:84% Here's an easy one, to start with: 00:00:54.510 --> 00:00:56.940 align:middle line:90% fungus can bloom inside books. 00:00:56.940 --> 00:00:59.100 align:middle line:84% Different kinds of molds, mostly, in dark, 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:02.130 align:middle line:84% damp libraries where the air isn't too good. 00:01:02.130 --> 00:01:04.000 align:middle line:84% Fungi cannot make their own food. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:06.780 align:middle line:84% They take what they can from other organic matter. 00:01:06.780 --> 00:01:09.780 align:middle line:84% They start on the fabric and cardboard of the books' cover, 00:01:09.780 --> 00:01:12.660 align:middle line:84% then feed on the pulp wood in the pages, the vegetable 00:01:12.660 --> 00:01:14.580 align:middle line:90% dyes in the ink. 00:01:14.580 --> 00:01:17.280 align:middle line:84% Samples are taken and sent to a laboratory 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:19.320 align:middle line:84% to check if the bloom is virulent. 00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:22.560 align:middle line:84% Usually, it's not, it's only penicillin or aspergillus. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:25.540 align:middle line:84% And then they send in a team to clean it up. 00:01:25.540 --> 00:01:28.180 align:middle line:90% This is no job for librarians. 00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:30.720 align:middle line:84% They hire other people, whoever they can get. 00:01:30.720 --> 00:01:34.050 align:middle line:90% It's not exactly skilled labor. 00:01:34.050 --> 00:01:36.900 align:middle line:84% An injury had forced me from my previous occupation. 00:01:36.900 --> 00:01:39.390 align:middle line:84% I'd been working down the shore, on the boardwalk. 00:01:39.390 --> 00:01:41.700 align:middle line:84% I wore a suit with three inches of padding, 00:01:41.700 --> 00:01:44.640 align:middle line:84% a hockey mask painted with a fanged smile. 00:01:44.640 --> 00:01:46.680 align:middle line:84% I leapt around behind fake trees, 00:01:46.680 --> 00:01:48.570 align:middle line:90% in front of a canvas backdrop. 00:01:48.570 --> 00:01:52.350 align:middle line:84% And people shot paintball guns at me. 00:01:52.350 --> 00:01:53.800 align:middle line:90% Ten shots for $3. 00:01:53.800 --> 00:01:55.980 align:middle line:84% I have targets on my suit, my helmet, 00:01:55.980 --> 00:01:59.790 align:middle line:84% a bull's eye on my crotch that everyone found hilarious. 00:01:59.790 --> 00:02:02.700 align:middle line:84% I wore two cups, with padding between them. 00:02:02.700 --> 00:02:04.440 align:middle line:84% Tough-talking boys couldn't touch 00:02:04.440 --> 00:02:06.480 align:middle line:84% me, cursing with their cracked voices, 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:09.150 align:middle line:84% slapping their temporary tattoos. 00:02:09.150 --> 00:02:12.420 align:middle line:84% It was their girlfriends-- bikini tops, slack expressions, 00:02:12.420 --> 00:02:14.220 align:middle line:90% baby fat under their arms-- 00:02:14.220 --> 00:02:16.140 align:middle line:90% who had the deadly aim. 00:02:16.140 --> 00:02:17.730 align:middle line:84% At the end of the day, in the shower, 00:02:17.730 --> 00:02:21.450 align:middle line:84% I counted the round bruises on my skin. 00:02:21.450 --> 00:02:23.880 align:middle line:84% One day I was recounting a story to a friend of mine, 00:02:23.880 --> 00:02:26.082 align:middle line:90% holding the mask in my hand. 00:02:26.082 --> 00:02:27.540 align:middle line:84% He had one of the guns, twirling it 00:02:27.540 --> 00:02:30.150 align:middle line:84% around his finger like Jesse James. 00:02:30.150 --> 00:02:33.510 align:middle line:84% When it went off, it caught me in the face, sideswiped me, 00:02:33.510 --> 00:02:35.880 align:middle line:84% actually, not even as hard as a punch. 00:02:35.880 --> 00:02:40.050 align:middle line:84% Dark red paint splattered across my temple, into my ear. 00:02:40.050 --> 00:02:42.600 align:middle line:84% I was left with this detached retina, where 00:02:42.600 --> 00:02:45.000 align:middle line:84% my vision's crooked, and everyone I talk to 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.150 align:middle line:84% thinks I'm trying to say something else. 00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:51.150 align:middle line:84% It's still shadowy on that side, but some days I 00:02:51.150 --> 00:02:52.680 align:middle line:90% believe it's clearing. 00:02:52.680 --> 00:02:55.808 align:middle line:90% Some days I'm not so sure. 00:02:55.808 --> 00:02:58.100 align:middle line:84% My boss said he couldn't be held accountable for a time 00:02:58.100 --> 00:02:59.670 align:middle line:90% that I wasn't working. 00:02:59.670 --> 00:03:02.310 align:middle line:84% Playing grab ass, those were his words. 00:03:02.310 --> 00:03:04.830 align:middle line:84% And, of, course, with my vision wrecked, my depth perception 00:03:04.830 --> 00:03:09.270 align:middle line:84% completely gone, I did not make a very challenging target. 00:03:09.270 --> 00:03:10.800 align:middle line:90% I was sore all over. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:15.120 align:middle line:84% We gave away half of the stuffed animals in one afternoon. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:17.820 align:middle line:84% Fortunately, none of this impaired me for the new job-- 00:03:17.820 --> 00:03:20.550 align:middle line:90% the blooms did not move so fast. 00:03:20.550 --> 00:03:23.020 align:middle line:84% I answered an ad and was hired over the phone, told 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:25.080 align:middle line:90% where to be the next morning. 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.390 align:middle line:84% They said I'd work on a team, what that meant 00:03:27.390 --> 00:03:29.820 align:middle line:90% was one other guy, Marco. 00:03:29.820 --> 00:03:31.830 align:middle line:84% He was forty, at least, from South Philly, 00:03:31.830 --> 00:03:33.240 align:middle line:90% where he still lived. 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:35.400 align:middle line:84% Older than me, and heavier, with gray 00:03:35.400 --> 00:03:37.650 align:middle line:84% flecks in his hair, which was thick on the sides, 00:03:37.650 --> 00:03:41.220 align:middle line:84% but you could see through it on top, his scalp shining. 00:03:41.220 --> 00:03:44.160 align:middle line:84% He had a heavy way of walking, almost sliding his feet. 00:03:44.160 --> 00:03:45.810 align:middle line:84% His hands would hang down at his sides, 00:03:45.810 --> 00:03:48.270 align:middle line:84% opening and closing with each step. 00:03:48.270 --> 00:03:51.240 align:middle line:84% My first impression was that he would never surprise me. 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:54.750 align:middle line:84% Nothing he would do, nothing he would say. 00:03:54.750 --> 00:03:56.550 align:middle line:84% We didn't shake hands when we first met, 00:03:56.550 --> 00:03:58.800 align:middle line:84% he just started to show me how things worked. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:00.900 align:middle line:84% Hair pushed out the collar of his t-shirt, 00:04:00.900 --> 00:04:02.520 align:middle line:90% both front and back. 00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:04.530 align:middle line:84% He'd done this kind of work before, 00:04:04.530 --> 00:04:06.840 align:middle line:84% and he told me there were worse jobs. 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:08.870 align:middle line:90% I've had them, I said. 00:04:08.870 --> 00:04:10.620 align:middle line:84% He told me he was only working long enough 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:12.570 align:middle line:84% to make enough money to get out of town, 00:04:12.570 --> 00:04:15.420 align:middle line:84% and I nodded and said that sounded wise. 00:04:15.420 --> 00:04:17.339 align:middle line:90% I have to get out, he said. 00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:19.920 align:middle line:90% The reasons are personal. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.380 align:middle line:84% We went through a side door on a kind of loading dock, 00:04:22.380 --> 00:04:23.850 align:middle line:90% down a flight of stairs. 00:04:23.850 --> 00:04:26.220 align:middle line:84% The books we were dealing with were on two floors-- 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:28.980 align:middle line:84% a basement and then another basement beneath that. 00:04:28.980 --> 00:04:31.410 align:middle line:90% There was not one window. 00:04:31.410 --> 00:04:33.030 align:middle line:84% Marco had already isolated the area 00:04:33.030 --> 00:04:36.450 align:middle line:84% with clear plastic sheeting, hung up the warning signs. 00:04:36.450 --> 00:04:38.700 align:middle line:84% He helped me into my suit, that first day. 00:04:38.700 --> 00:04:41.640 align:middle line:84% They were white, made of Tyvek, with a long zipper 00:04:41.640 --> 00:04:44.430 align:middle line:84% up the front, and zippers on the sides of the legs. 00:04:44.430 --> 00:04:46.710 align:middle line:84% We wore latex gloves, and baggy paper 00:04:46.710 --> 00:04:50.490 align:middle line:84% booties we had to replace every time we went outside. 00:04:50.490 --> 00:04:53.370 align:middle line:84% The hoods on our heads had clear plastic face panels. 00:04:53.370 --> 00:04:56.010 align:middle line:84% We wore battery packs on our belts, a fan 00:04:56.010 --> 00:04:59.490 align:middle line:84% with a tube that blew filtered air in front of our faces. 00:04:59.490 --> 00:05:02.370 align:middle line:84% It took one morning of breathing my own breath in that hood 00:05:02.370 --> 00:05:03.435 align:middle line:90% before I quit smoking. 00:05:03.435 --> 00:05:08.040 align:middle line:84% [LAUGHING] That's one positive thing that came of that job. 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:09.960 align:middle line:84% The blooms, they were green fuzzy mold, 00:05:09.960 --> 00:05:11.160 align:middle line:90% streaked with black. 00:05:11.160 --> 00:05:13.980 align:middle line:84% Fibrous, like nothing you'd want in your lungs. 00:05:13.980 --> 00:05:16.530 align:middle line:84% They rested atop books, forced the covers open 00:05:16.530 --> 00:05:18.240 align:middle line:84% where they weren't tight in the shelves 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:20.340 align:middle line:90% and squeezing each other. 00:05:20.340 --> 00:05:23.370 align:middle line:84% We started out with the vacuums, fitted with HEPA filters 00:05:23.370 --> 00:05:25.080 align:middle line:90% that trapped spores. 00:05:25.080 --> 00:05:27.610 align:middle line:84% Marco would work one aisle, and I'd do the next. 00:05:27.610 --> 00:05:30.180 align:middle line:84% The shelves were tall, but sometimes I'd pull out a book 00:05:30.180 --> 00:05:33.510 align:middle line:84% and see him there, on the other side, his face close 00:05:33.510 --> 00:05:35.190 align:middle line:90% but his expression hidden. 00:05:35.190 --> 00:05:38.130 align:middle line:84% We kept moving, slowly and methodically, 00:05:38.130 --> 00:05:40.350 align:middle line:90% as if we were under water. 00:05:40.350 --> 00:05:43.170 align:middle line:84% The days went fluid, each like the one before it, 00:05:43.170 --> 00:05:46.190 align:middle line:84% progress marked only by the bookshelves left behind. 00:05:46.190 --> 00:05:48.630 align:middle line:84% Sections of maps, then encyclopedias. 00:05:48.630 --> 00:05:51.120 align:middle line:90% Novels, even poetry. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:53.860 align:middle line:84% It was strange to spend so much time so close to a person 00:05:53.860 --> 00:05:55.700 align:middle line:84% without being able to talk with them. 00:05:55.700 --> 00:05:58.200 align:middle line:84% We went our separate ways at lunch, and the rest of the time 00:05:58.200 --> 00:06:00.420 align:middle line:84% we were inside the suits and ventilators. 00:06:00.420 --> 00:06:02.340 align:middle line:84% It was all white noise down there-- 00:06:02.340 --> 00:06:05.370 align:middle line:84% the fans, the rustle of Tyvek, the sound of pages 00:06:05.370 --> 00:06:08.300 align:middle line:84% being flipped under our gloved thumbs."