wildscape. literary journal

For Sale: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
by Jennifer Anne Gordon

Hardcover, in low grade condition.

This copy of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare features a gold embossed cover that the original owner always wished were silver instead. Gold always reminded her of her mother’s fake gold pinkie nail with a diamond chip. Her mother never realized this was supposedly a “cocaine nail” and throughout high school it was awkward when her mother would tap tap tap her long cigarettes into the ashtray when picking her up from school.

This copy of the complete works of William Shakespeare also features ephemeral paper that feels as if it will turn to dust with every movement of the page.

Special care should be taken with the Othello section. All of Desdemona’s lines are highlighted, and in the margins, there are notes written in pencil that have almost faded away. Book will need to be brought into the light to see said notes.

Portions of Desdemona’s Song of Willow are worn almost through due to water damage.

Are tears considered water? Are they considered something more, something less?

Pages were damaged in the family waiting room on floor C of Catholic Medical Center. The original owner would spend hours in that room memorizing said passage. What normally would have just taken her an hour took close to the full thirteen hours that it took for her father to pass away after his feeding tube was removed.

What is invisible is the melody of the Song of Willow, as it was sung quietly to herself. She tried not to disturb her mother, who was fighting the nurses and trying to get them to change her husband into the new pajamas she had purchased for him that day. That’s where she was, that’s why she wasn’t here, that’s why she missed the call about him signing the DNR.

The original owner of this book was in bed with someone she should not have been when her father’s decision was made.

So yeah, tear damage, but it should be expected. Tragedies are sad, especially Othello.

The section of Macbeth is in pristine condition. Original owner never got the chance to highlight any of those lines, another wrong person she would go to bed with went on to direct that play, and he thought it would be best for both of them if she didn’t even audition.

She did go see it though, on opening night, fighting back bitter tears that tasted like the pages of a book.

His Lady Macbeth fucking sucked.

That is not apparent in this what we now realize is a vintage copy of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

Around this time the original owner started to slice the tops of her hands open in thin little cuts like slivers. She would blame this on her landlady’s miniature dachshund, Lucy with her tiny sharp claws.

Please note that red brown stains that seeped from Richard II to Henry V’s Saint Crispin Day Speech are due to this.

Damage.

The book comes with a very creased spine, and if the book were to fall open it would almost come apart in two distinct pieces, a before and after.

The book, when closed, is all she has left of the “during” time of her life.

Book has taken residence in New Hampshire, Ohio, and New Hampshire again. It has resided in the small shelves of the libraries of her childhood home, first apartment, second apartment, a hotel where sex workers turned tricks on the third floor that she lived for 6 months, the house where she almost died, the house where her husband was arrested for trying to kill her, and then eventually back to NH again, where it lived in her mother’s shed, and eventually in a haunted house.

Warning. This book is damaged and has ghosts.

about the author // Jennifer Anne Gordon

Website: http://www.JenniferAnneGordon.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.gordon.71404

Instagram/Threads https://www.instagram.com/jenniferannegordon_author

Literary Rep: Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary

Publicity Rep: Mickey Mikkelson of Creative Edge Publicit