Favorite book finds

There was a time, a few or more years ago, that I was a regular at the used bookstore about 15 minutes from my apartment. Odd thing is, when I was there I would rarely go inside the store until it was time to pay for whatever it was that I had found.

Instead, I would spend all of my time browsing the carts out front where everything was $1. I was able to pickup some classics at great prices, but my favorite thing was to take a flier on something. I did it often and, honestly, was burned often. But there were times when I would find a book that grabbed me from the beginning and wound up being a favorite of the moment.

The best of those books was by Jasen Emmons. It was called Cowboy Angst, and from what I can tell it was his only book. It also appears to be out of print.

I don't know if it was reading at just the right time in my life or what, but the story got holdof me and I couldn't put it down. It's about Dennis, who drops out of law school to play drums in a country and western band. He spends the rest of the book dealing with his family and the ramifications of his decision. Not the best sales job on the book, I know. But I loved it and I especially loved that it was something I discovered on my own, just because I liked the look of the cover and the blurb on the back.

So, what about you? Do have a book that you stumbled upon that you wound up thinking, "Man, I'm glad I read that."