The Time I Tried to Get Into German Literature

Last night I dreamt that I was at a bookstore (probably attached to a college, like BYU) looking for a book to read in San Diego. This dark-haired, medium-complexioned, very hyper young man kept following me around the store because he liked me. He was talking nonstop about all sorts of things, trying to hit a subject that would interest me. He never figured out that he didn't interest me, so it was a moot point.

Anyway, this guy wanted to pay for everything I bought at the bookstore, so I started collecting gold earrings and a fancy poster of British royalty to push my tab up. Finally, I came to a desk in the book department run by a tall, large, white-haired German man. The German man asked me about my literary tastes, and we chatted a bit. Hyper guy actually got bored by this and wandered off. Then the German man recommended that I buy a book from a series written by a dead German author. The whole story about the author sounded like Stieg Larsson's, except this author was German. There were a whole bunch of books in a whole bunch of formats, and I really wanted this really large, beautiful hardcover copy that was light green and blue and had the title in shiny silver letters. I want to say the title had the word moonlight in it. (I wish I could remember all the titles—they were probably the key to my mental state or something.)

Then I remembered that the book would be too bulky for the plane. The man suggested that I begin my journey with this author by reading another of the books, which came in a smaller hardcover edition but no paperback edition. In the end, I took the book that occurred in the author's oeuvre just before the one the man wanted me to buy. It came in a used paperback edition that had been used for a class and had a few things highlighted. It was called In My _______. (I can't remember the last word, but it could have been room.)

When I went to pay, my admirer suddenly reappeared by my side demanding to pay for the sundry items I had acquired. However, when the tab rang up, he didn't have enough money and became very embarrassed. I didn't feel sorry for him. And then I woke up.