01.27.08
Just what the traveling reader needs
Today’s New York Times Style section contains an article about the playwright Tom Stoppard’s book valise — an item of luggage that is perfect for the traveling reader but is no longer manufactured. I want one. I need one. I must have one.
Probably I will have to make my own. If it is not to weigh a ton empty it will have to be made from a lightweight plywood — aircraft spruce, maybe — covered in leather and reinforced with brass steamer trunk corners. Probably, if it is to stand up to abuse on airline luggage carousels, it will need some kind of steel frame. I can do the woodwork but would have to find a welder for the metalwork.
There’s always eBay, but an item like this probably comes up for sale once every few years — and now, that the Times has blown the whistle, the bidding will be frenzied next time one comes on the block.
