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Second Hand
Richard sees treasure everywhere. In that old eight-track quadraphonic stereo, that pink granite bowling ball, or a Niagara Falls napkin holder. While most people scramble for the newest and the best, Richard searches for the odd and obsolete -- and sells it at his second-hand shop on the edge of Detroit.
Why does he do it? For Richard, junk is a way of life, a calling, and a passion. Until his comfortable second-hand life gets a first-hand jolt.
Richard's mother has died, and left behind a valuable house full of packed-away junk -- including some old photos that will change everything Richard thought about his parents. And then there's the hip, thrift-attired woman who comes into his store with more than junk on her mind.... Suddenly some very unexpected things are entering Richard's life, including some surprising revelations about love and loss -- and what's really important in life.
With an unerring blend of the comic and the poignant, Michael Zadoorian has written an unforgettable novel about knick-knacks, garage sales, romance, and the bonds we form with people and things -- the perfect story for anyone who has ever loved something second hand.
Why does he do it? For Richard, junk is a way of life, a calling, and a passion. Until his comfortable second-hand life gets a first-hand jolt.
Richard's mother has died, and left behind a valuable house full of packed-away junk -- including some old photos that will change everything Richard thought about his parents. And then there's the hip, thrift-attired woman who comes into his store with more than junk on her mind.... Suddenly some very unexpected things are entering Richard's life, including some surprising revelations about love and loss -- and what's really important in life.
With an unerring blend of the comic and the poignant, Michael Zadoorian has written an unforgettable novel about knick-knacks, garage sales, romance, and the bonds we form with people and things -- the perfect story for anyone who has ever loved something second hand.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
6 people are currently reading
523 people want to read
About the author
Michael Zadoorian
10 books237 followersMichael Zadoorian is the author of five works of fiction. His second novel, The Leisure Seeker was recently made into a feature film starring Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland.
His most recent novel is The Narcissism of Small Differences. Set in bottomed-out 2009 Detroit, it’s the story of Joe Keen and Ana Urbanek, an unmarried Gen X couple with no kids or mortgage, as Midwestern parents seem to require. Now on the cusp of forty, both work at jobs that they’re not sure they believe in anymore, yet with varying returns. Ana is successful, Joe is floundering—both caught somewhere between mainstream and alternative culture, sincerity and irony, achievement and arrested development. The Narcissism of Small Differences tells of an aging creative class, doomed to ask the questions: Is it possible to outgrow irony? Does not having children make you one? Is there even such a thing as selling out anymore? By turns wry and ribald, kitschy and gritty, poignant and thoughtful, The Narcissism of Small Differences is the story of Joe and Ana’s life together, their relationship, their tribes, their work, and their comic quest for a life that is their own and no one else’s.
His third novel was Beautiful Music. Set in 1970’s era Detroit, Beautiful Music is about one young man’s transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio–loving loner balancing a dysfunctional home life with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence. When tragedy strikes the family, Danny’s mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to keep it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock ‘n’ roll. Beautiful Music is a funny and poignant story about the power of music and its ability to save one’s soul.
Zadoorian’s second novel, The Leisure Seeker was an international bestseller and translated into over 20 different languages worldwide. John and Ella, two eighty-somethings, decide to kidnap themselves from the doctors and grown children who run their lives for a final adventure in their ancient Winnebago. In a starred review, Booklist wrote "The Leisure Seeker is pretty much like life itself: joyous, painful, moving, tragic, mysterious, and not to be missed." The L.A. Times said: Zadoorian is true to these geezers. He draws them in their most honest light. I hoped for a book that would make me laugh during these tight times, and I was rewarded." And the Sydney Morning Herald stated: "This is a sad, sweet love letter to a fading America… sharp humour about aging and a quietly shocking ending.”
Michael Zadoorian's first novel, Second Hand is about love and loss for a Detroit-area junk store owner. The New York Times Book Review said “Second Hand may be a gift from the (Tiki) gods” and called it "a romantic adventure that explores what Yeats called 'the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.'" Selected for Barnes & Noble's Discover Great New Writers Program, Second Hand also received the Great Lakes Colleges Association prestigious New Writers Award. Translated into Italian, Portuguese and French, it's still a cult favorite.
His short story collection The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit follows characters coming to terms with the past and the present in a broken city. Lansing Journal called them "…stories that grab you, shake you and slap you upside the head." The Ann Arbor Observer called the stories “sometimes wildly funny and more than a little crazy, yet they have a heart-breaking affection for the battered lives they portray."
Zadoorian is a recipient of a Kresge Artist Fellowship in the Literary Arts, the Columbia University Anahid Literary Award, the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award, the GLIBA Great Lakes Great Reads award, and two Michigan Notable Book Awards. He lives in the Detroit area.
His most recent novel is The Narcissism of Small Differences. Set in bottomed-out 2009 Detroit, it’s the story of Joe Keen and Ana Urbanek, an unmarried Gen X couple with no kids or mortgage, as Midwestern parents seem to require. Now on the cusp of forty, both work at jobs that they’re not sure they believe in anymore, yet with varying returns. Ana is successful, Joe is floundering—both caught somewhere between mainstream and alternative culture, sincerity and irony, achievement and arrested development. The Narcissism of Small Differences tells of an aging creative class, doomed to ask the questions: Is it possible to outgrow irony? Does not having children make you one? Is there even such a thing as selling out anymore? By turns wry and ribald, kitschy and gritty, poignant and thoughtful, The Narcissism of Small Differences is the story of Joe and Ana’s life together, their relationship, their tribes, their work, and their comic quest for a life that is their own and no one else’s.
His third novel was Beautiful Music. Set in 1970’s era Detroit, Beautiful Music is about one young man’s transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio–loving loner balancing a dysfunctional home life with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence. When tragedy strikes the family, Danny’s mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to keep it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock ‘n’ roll. Beautiful Music is a funny and poignant story about the power of music and its ability to save one’s soul.
Zadoorian’s second novel, The Leisure Seeker was an international bestseller and translated into over 20 different languages worldwide. John and Ella, two eighty-somethings, decide to kidnap themselves from the doctors and grown children who run their lives for a final adventure in their ancient Winnebago. In a starred review, Booklist wrote "The Leisure Seeker is pretty much like life itself: joyous, painful, moving, tragic, mysterious, and not to be missed." The L.A. Times said: Zadoorian is true to these geezers. He draws them in their most honest light. I hoped for a book that would make me laugh during these tight times, and I was rewarded." And the Sydney Morning Herald stated: "This is a sad, sweet love letter to a fading America… sharp humour about aging and a quietly shocking ending.”
Michael Zadoorian's first novel, Second Hand is about love and loss for a Detroit-area junk store owner. The New York Times Book Review said “Second Hand may be a gift from the (Tiki) gods” and called it "a romantic adventure that explores what Yeats called 'the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.'" Selected for Barnes & Noble's Discover Great New Writers Program, Second Hand also received the Great Lakes Colleges Association prestigious New Writers Award. Translated into Italian, Portuguese and French, it's still a cult favorite.
His short story collection The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit follows characters coming to terms with the past and the present in a broken city. Lansing Journal called them "…stories that grab you, shake you and slap you upside the head." The Ann Arbor Observer called the stories “sometimes wildly funny and more than a little crazy, yet they have a heart-breaking affection for the battered lives they portray."
Zadoorian is a recipient of a Kresge Artist Fellowship in the Literary Arts, the Columbia University Anahid Literary Award, the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award, the GLIBA Great Lakes Great Reads award, and two Michigan Notable Book Awards. He lives in the Detroit area.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 120 reviews
May 16, 2022
Real Rating: 2.5* of five, rounded up because so much better work followed
The Publisher Says: Richard sees treasure everywhere. In that old eight-track quadraphonic stereo, that pink granite bowling ball, or a Niagara Falls napkin holder. While most people scramble for the newest and the best, Richard searches for the odd and obsolete—and sells it at his second-hand shop on the edge of Detroit.
Why does he do it? For Richard, junk is a way of life, a calling, and a passion. Until his comfortable second-hand life gets a first-hand jolt.
Richard's mother has died, and left behind a valuable house full of packed-away junk—including some old photos that will change everything Richard thought about his parents. And then there's the hip, thrift-attired woman who comes into his store with more than junk on her mind.... Suddenly some very unexpected things are entering Richard's life, including some surprising revelations about love and loss—and what's really important in life.
With an unerring blend of the comic and the poignant, Michael Zadoorian has written an unforgettable novel about knick-knacks, garage sales, romance, and the bonds we form with people and things—the perfect story for anyone who has ever loved something second hand.
My Review: A twelve-year-old book that discusses the now out-of-the-closet disorder of hoarding in comedic terms. Richard (!) the junque dealer inherits his mom's house, which is packed to the rafters with cool stuff. Among that cool stuff is a collection of photos that completely change his idea of his parents and their public persona. Throw in a hot retro-emo chick with an inexplicable (to me) yen for this musty yutz, cue the schmaltzy waltzes, and you have a ready-for-Lifetime scenario of love, loss, and what she wore (thrift edition).
Adequate. Even amusing. But slight.
The Publisher Says: Richard sees treasure everywhere. In that old eight-track quadraphonic stereo, that pink granite bowling ball, or a Niagara Falls napkin holder. While most people scramble for the newest and the best, Richard searches for the odd and obsolete—and sells it at his second-hand shop on the edge of Detroit.
Why does he do it? For Richard, junk is a way of life, a calling, and a passion. Until his comfortable second-hand life gets a first-hand jolt.
Richard's mother has died, and left behind a valuable house full of packed-away junk—including some old photos that will change everything Richard thought about his parents. And then there's the hip, thrift-attired woman who comes into his store with more than junk on her mind.... Suddenly some very unexpected things are entering Richard's life, including some surprising revelations about love and loss—and what's really important in life.
With an unerring blend of the comic and the poignant, Michael Zadoorian has written an unforgettable novel about knick-knacks, garage sales, romance, and the bonds we form with people and things—the perfect story for anyone who has ever loved something second hand.
My Review: A twelve-year-old book that discusses the now out-of-the-closet disorder of hoarding in comedic terms. Richard (!) the junque dealer inherits his mom's house, which is packed to the rafters with cool stuff. Among that cool stuff is a collection of photos that completely change his idea of his parents and their public persona. Throw in a hot retro-emo chick with an inexplicable (to me) yen for this musty yutz, cue the schmaltzy waltzes, and you have a ready-for-Lifetime scenario of love, loss, and what she wore (thrift edition).
Adequate. Even amusing. But slight.
April 15, 2020
Volevo essere una junker!
Mi sono accorta di non aver mai commentato questo romanzo; ormai però è passato troppo tempo e le impressioni a caldo sono svanite.
Mi è piaciuto, ma non mi ha entusiasmato: In viaggio contromano, dello stesso autore, mi ha coinvolta e commossa molto di più.
Però, c'è sempre un però, se da una parte la storia vera e propria dello strano rapporto che lega i due protagonisti, Theresa e Richard, non mi ha convinta del tutto, quello che mi ha rapita e fatto riconoscere una parte di me è stato il mestiere e l'atteggiamento di Richard, detto Junk.
Lui è un junker, un rigattiere diremmo noi italiani antichi, ma junker è mooolto più cool :-)
È uno di quelli che con il suo furgoncino visita gli appartamenti da svuotare in cerca di "tesori" che poi restaura e conserva gelosamente o mette in vendita nel suo negozietto metropolitano.
Ecco, io sono una junker mancata professionalmente, una junker nell'animo però, e se solo in Italia si potessero fare i mercatini nelle case da svuotare - con il banchetto con la caraffa di limonata a 50 cent. come faceva Lucy dei Peanuts - io mollerei tutto e mi lancerei in questa nuova avventura.
Proprio io sì, quella che ha una scatola di scarpe per ogni ex-fidanzato colma di ricordi, quella che conserva ogni più piccolo e insignificante oggetto trincerandosi dietro alla frase "È un ricordo!”, quella che si è fatta smontare le porte di lana di vetro della casa dove ha vissuto per oltre trent'anni e ha pagato per farle trasportare in un'altra cantina*, quella che... Ok, mi fermo: lo so, sono un caso clinico!
*(e poi in un'altra ancora, ma questa è storia del 2018)
Mi sono accorta di non aver mai commentato questo romanzo; ormai però è passato troppo tempo e le impressioni a caldo sono svanite.
Mi è piaciuto, ma non mi ha entusiasmato: In viaggio contromano, dello stesso autore, mi ha coinvolta e commossa molto di più.
Però, c'è sempre un però, se da una parte la storia vera e propria dello strano rapporto che lega i due protagonisti, Theresa e Richard, non mi ha convinta del tutto, quello che mi ha rapita e fatto riconoscere una parte di me è stato il mestiere e l'atteggiamento di Richard, detto Junk.
Lui è un junker, un rigattiere diremmo noi italiani antichi, ma junker è mooolto più cool :-)
È uno di quelli che con il suo furgoncino visita gli appartamenti da svuotare in cerca di "tesori" che poi restaura e conserva gelosamente o mette in vendita nel suo negozietto metropolitano.
Ecco, io sono una junker mancata professionalmente, una junker nell'animo però, e se solo in Italia si potessero fare i mercatini nelle case da svuotare - con il banchetto con la caraffa di limonata a 50 cent. come faceva Lucy dei Peanuts - io mollerei tutto e mi lancerei in questa nuova avventura.
Proprio io sì, quella che ha una scatola di scarpe per ogni ex-fidanzato colma di ricordi, quella che conserva ogni più piccolo e insignificante oggetto trincerandosi dietro alla frase "È un ricordo!”, quella che si è fatta smontare le porte di lana di vetro della casa dove ha vissuto per oltre trent'anni e ha pagato per farle trasportare in un'altra cantina*, quella che... Ok, mi fermo: lo so, sono un caso clinico!
*(e poi in un'altra ancora, ma questa è storia del 2018)
July 12, 2019
This reminded me a bit of High Fidelity, but instead of a record store and music it features a junk shop and vintage items. Lots of wry observations about life, family, and relationships from first-person narrator (and junk shop owner) Richard. He's simulateously dealing with the death of his mother, getting rid of his parents' stuff before the sale of their house, and having a relationship with quirky but depressed Theresa who works at an animal shelter. I found Theresa to be a bit too much drama, but I did like Richard.
February 2, 2019
It's rare that I read books that classify (for me) as literature - but they're usually a delight when I do. I don't remember what random thread lead me to a two decade old novel, but Zadoorian captures pieces of the human spirit just as well as his main character captures pieces of the human experience - and both make their worlds a better place for doing so.
March 26, 2016
As someone who was born in Detroit, grew up in the city's suburbs, and had many relatives who lived closer to downtown, reading Michael Zadoorian's work is always a bit like going home, or going back in time. I know that he will mention places and events that resonate with me, and this book is no exception. The protagonist of Second Hand is a somewhat reclusive, socially awkward thirty-ish guy, Richard, who owns Satori Junk in downtown Detroit. He pretty much spends the first half of his days going to estate and garage sales and the occasional Salvation Army store, looking for something for his store--not actual junk, in his eyes, and not the kind of "score" that others might be looking for, but something that might be better described as kitsch or hipster-junk. The rest of his time, Richard is at his store. There he meets Theresa, an oddly attractive girl who works at a local animal shelter. Their relationship evolves during the course of the book, from "just sex" to friendship to "I hate you" to love, maybe?
Richard also has a strained relationship with his bourgeois sister, Linda, and her cheating, aging jock husband, Stu. When their mother dies, Linda makes an agreement with Richard: she will take anything that might be sold for a good price, and he can take anything that might be labelled junk before she holds an estate sale and sells the house. In sorting through decades of boxes, Richard makes some surprising discoveries about his parents and philosophizes about how objects can really be memories.
Overall, I liked Second Hand, but not as much as Zadoorian's short story collection, The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit, or his other novel The Leisure Seekers. For one thing, I just didn't like the character of Theresa, who was moody, self-centered, and psychologically damaged; I wanted Richard to do better than that. For another, the long lists of all the supposedly wonderful junk Richard finds got tedious and started to feel like little more than a gimmick.
Zadoorian draws much from his own life. For example, like Richard, he found photographs taken by his father that opened up a whole new side of the man he thought he knew. I don't know if he's into junk, too, or if he ended up with a woman like Theresa, but he does have a keen eye on the city and the surrounding suburbs.
Warning: If you are sensitive to animal abuse and death, you'd be best to avoid this one as you'll find Theresa's descriptions of her work very disturbing.
Richard also has a strained relationship with his bourgeois sister, Linda, and her cheating, aging jock husband, Stu. When their mother dies, Linda makes an agreement with Richard: she will take anything that might be sold for a good price, and he can take anything that might be labelled junk before she holds an estate sale and sells the house. In sorting through decades of boxes, Richard makes some surprising discoveries about his parents and philosophizes about how objects can really be memories.
Overall, I liked Second Hand, but not as much as Zadoorian's short story collection, The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit, or his other novel The Leisure Seekers. For one thing, I just didn't like the character of Theresa, who was moody, self-centered, and psychologically damaged; I wanted Richard to do better than that. For another, the long lists of all the supposedly wonderful junk Richard finds got tedious and started to feel like little more than a gimmick.
Zadoorian draws much from his own life. For example, like Richard, he found photographs taken by his father that opened up a whole new side of the man he thought he knew. I don't know if he's into junk, too, or if he ended up with a woman like Theresa, but he does have a keen eye on the city and the surrounding suburbs.
Warning: If you are sensitive to animal abuse and death, you'd be best to avoid this one as you'll find Theresa's descriptions of her work very disturbing.
July 13, 2010
It's fitting that I got my copy at a used bookstore.
I enjoyed this book more than the first 50 or so pages of reading lead me to believe I would. I never really identified with Richard or even cared over much about him, but I appreciated his ability to recognize his own hypocrisy when it came to the judgments he'd often make about other people. He didn't place himself above others so much as he didn't understand them or the things they valued, which I felt was a nice change from the so many disillusioned male characters that can be found in literature.
I can't say that I liked Theressa either,not really I mean it's not that I disliked her. It's just that both she and Richard are rather pathetic even though she especially has some good reasons to be. Neither of them were particularly likable, but they were interesting, specifically in their interactions with each other.
Zadoorian doesn't strike me as a particularly artful writer, he has some good ideas, but doesn't always seem poses a great deal of dexterity in expressing them. For instance I know that this story is being told by Richard and that junking is a huge part of his life, but especially in the beginning there is a great deal of repetitive information about junking and lists of items he finds. I think Zadoorian is trying to give us Richard's voice here because Richard is a bit repetitive and awkward, but it doesn't quite work. The story has a lot of dead zones in it where I found myself thinking "not another estate sale" I get that these were sort of being used to move the plot forward, but again this got really repetitive and not in a good move the story forward kind of way.
A few extra thoughts:
There was one moment I found particularly moving, the one with the dog left on the highway.
I felt the end (I don't want to give anything away) but the way in which the end is facilitated is somewhat of a du ex machina, even if it has a fairly mundane and acceptable explanation.
I felt that a much of what happened in the final 1/4 of the book was pretty predictable, but it still worked.
I enjoyed this book more than the first 50 or so pages of reading lead me to believe I would. I never really identified with Richard or even cared over much about him, but I appreciated his ability to recognize his own hypocrisy when it came to the judgments he'd often make about other people. He didn't place himself above others so much as he didn't understand them or the things they valued, which I felt was a nice change from the so many disillusioned male characters that can be found in literature.
I can't say that I liked Theressa either,not really I mean it's not that I disliked her. It's just that both she and Richard are rather pathetic even though she especially has some good reasons to be. Neither of them were particularly likable, but they were interesting, specifically in their interactions with each other.
Zadoorian doesn't strike me as a particularly artful writer, he has some good ideas, but doesn't always seem poses a great deal of dexterity in expressing them. For instance I know that this story is being told by Richard and that junking is a huge part of his life, but especially in the beginning there is a great deal of repetitive information about junking and lists of items he finds. I think Zadoorian is trying to give us Richard's voice here because Richard is a bit repetitive and awkward, but it doesn't quite work. The story has a lot of dead zones in it where I found myself thinking "not another estate sale" I get that these were sort of being used to move the plot forward, but again this got really repetitive and not in a good move the story forward kind of way.
A few extra thoughts:
There was one moment I found particularly moving, the one with the dog left on the highway.
I felt the end (I don't want to give anything away) but the way in which the end is facilitated is somewhat of a du ex machina, even if it has a fairly mundane and acceptable explanation.
I felt that a much of what happened in the final 1/4 of the book was pretty predictable, but it still worked.
November 17, 2007
This is a terrific book. I can't think of very many people I know who shouldn't read this book. Most of you came to mind while I was reading it. It's a less slick version of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, but all the substance is still intact. I wouldn't want to see a movie made of it. Oh, it also reminds me of David Eddings' The Losers. But only peripherally.
Worst review ever!
But, you should read it anyway.
Worst review ever!
But, you should read it anyway.
February 4, 2014
What a nebbish our hero is. Richard lives in the state of sorry. His watch is set to Sorry Standard Time. To unswamp from sorry, he junks. When he feels unusually good, he goes treasure hunting to stave off the curse of not finding good junk for his store, Satori Junk. Zadoorian's novel begins with an epistolary epitaph–when I die, I will leave nothing but junk. This book is the best possible second hand store, like Bizarre Bazaar on Woodward which may be gone now, but still lingers fondly in my forebrain and speeds up my heartbeat. Zadoorian combs through the prose in a huge word Salvation Army and drops the most delectable dollops into his plastic bag of chapters to bring home to us. Not vintage junk, not highbrow junk. The good stuff. Thrilling stuff, like "I'm Johnny Stompanato before her kid kebobs me with a kitchen knife." One dull afternoon in the Satori Junk store, Theresa rings the bell over the door and bolloxes Richard's crackpot theory existence. Richard believes he can sense the life essence of the original owner of his finds. The novel lets us experience this sensation. Theresa wears second hand–the good stuff–and we discover, along with Richard, that Theresa may be the personification of second hand. The good stuff. Richard and Theresa are emotionally whacky and, lucky reader, personally fascinating. Tom, the mannequin plays a role in this phantasmagorical garage sale trip. His hand is on the cover, brava to Julie Metz, the cover designer, along with the camera, a Dia de Muertos swizzle stick, and a souvenir spoon. The junk, even the junk that Richard passes over on his daily excursions, are featured players. I'm a Detroiter, so the delight of Zadoorian's first novel is heightened by location memory. Oh, the magnificent decadence of stuff that had a life before you found it and kept the secret story alive. Feels like a slow motion trip through Bizarre Bazaar, eyes alight, blood sizzling with the keen knowledge of a potential find waiting to be discovered and reborn.
January 16, 2021
Who would imagine an author writing a story about a 30ish, nerdly, bachelor junk (not antique) store owner who “breaks for garage sales” and his pursuit of a depressed, suicidal junk store junkie who ekes out a so-called living by euthanizing animals in a rescue shelter? Surprise—this is the basic story line of Second Hand by Michael Zadoorian.
Theresa, a ��loopy hipster” who is “kind of attractive in a wan, beat girl way” stumbles (on purpose) into Richard’s junk store one day. Richard, woefully inexperienced in matters of the heart, falls head-over-heals in love with her who, needless to say, has been around the block a few times in the love department. Theresa, who deals with her depression by entertaining various lovers in her bedroom which is decorated in a skulls and skeletons motif, eventually seduces Richard, who is a most willing participant.
After a life-saving experience in “Hugh” Beaumont Hospital (you Detroiters out there will, no doubt, enjoy Zadoorian’s pun), Richard and Theresa’s story has a happy ending at the “Days of the Dead” festival in Oaxaca, Mexico. (I like happy endings.)
Second Hand is an easy, entertaining read. It would also make a good case study for students in an advanced psychology curriculum as both Richard and Theresa are excellent candidates for analysis.
Theresa, a ��loopy hipster” who is “kind of attractive in a wan, beat girl way” stumbles (on purpose) into Richard’s junk store one day. Richard, woefully inexperienced in matters of the heart, falls head-over-heals in love with her who, needless to say, has been around the block a few times in the love department. Theresa, who deals with her depression by entertaining various lovers in her bedroom which is decorated in a skulls and skeletons motif, eventually seduces Richard, who is a most willing participant.
After a life-saving experience in “Hugh” Beaumont Hospital (you Detroiters out there will, no doubt, enjoy Zadoorian’s pun), Richard and Theresa’s story has a happy ending at the “Days of the Dead” festival in Oaxaca, Mexico. (I like happy endings.)
Second Hand is an easy, entertaining read. It would also make a good case study for students in an advanced psychology curriculum as both Richard and Theresa are excellent candidates for analysis.
June 17, 2015
Satori Junk
"Uno dei presupposti ineluttabili del possesso è avere abbastanza tempo per possedere le cose."
Lui è un rigattiere (in una versione più figa) che vive solo isolato dagli altri per paura di soffrire, lei è un'amante degli animali che lavora in un rifugio dove però non tutti gli animali possono essere ospitati e diventa così occasionalmente (troppo spesso) un angelo della morte. Due vite apparentemente molto lontane, unite dal comune interesse nel dare un significato nuovo, più grande, a cose e animali che vengono "dismessi".
Più che una storia d'amore sembra un incontro di disgrazie, ma il libro è veramente bello, anche se devo ammettere che la protagonista femminile non mi ha fatto impazzire.
Ho amato molto le riflessioni di Richard sugli oggetti, sulla filosofia del nuovo e dell'usato, sulla valenza emotiva delle cose. Anche se alcune sue riflessioni sono un po' esagerate, mi sento di condividere molte cose.
"Uno dei presupposti ineluttabili del possesso è avere abbastanza tempo per possedere le cose."
Lui è un rigattiere (in una versione più figa) che vive solo isolato dagli altri per paura di soffrire, lei è un'amante degli animali che lavora in un rifugio dove però non tutti gli animali possono essere ospitati e diventa così occasionalmente (troppo spesso) un angelo della morte. Due vite apparentemente molto lontane, unite dal comune interesse nel dare un significato nuovo, più grande, a cose e animali che vengono "dismessi".
Più che una storia d'amore sembra un incontro di disgrazie, ma il libro è veramente bello, anche se devo ammettere che la protagonista femminile non mi ha fatto impazzire.
Ho amato molto le riflessioni di Richard sugli oggetti, sulla filosofia del nuovo e dell'usato, sulla valenza emotiva delle cose. Anche se alcune sue riflessioni sono un po' esagerate, mi sento di condividere molte cose.
June 16, 2023
This story wasn’t five star-worthy but I like this author.
August 21, 2015
Jonathan Carroll once wrote that he made it a point never to re-read books he once loved. "...in my experience it never fails to disappoint. In certain ways the experience is similar to looking up old loves years later, hoping that despite the passing of years they will have remained as wonderful as you remember them."
In May of 2000, Michael Zadoorian came to Portland, Oregon to read from his first novel at Powell's Books on Hawthorne. I asked if I could introduce the author because I really loved "Second Hand." I saw myself in Richard, a lonely, geeky, INFJ kind of guy who made his living running a second-hand junk store.
My copy includes a wonderful inscription, "May the junk gods always smile upon you." A week later, he sent me a postcard from the Vagabond Motor Hotel in Whittier, CA., telling me how much he enjoyed himself at Powell's. I laid the postcard into my copy and shelved it with my other favorite fictions. The memory of reading "Second Hand" and meeting Michael kept the book from leaving my library even as other authors came and went.
It's now August 2015 and I'm reading (more like devouring) "Second Hand" for the second time. It's still as sweet as I remember - a sentimental meditation on life and death, love and junk and the value we place on all of these things.
"Second Hand" would make a great little indie film. It would also be worthy of a sequel. (Just sayin')
In May of 2000, Michael Zadoorian came to Portland, Oregon to read from his first novel at Powell's Books on Hawthorne. I asked if I could introduce the author because I really loved "Second Hand." I saw myself in Richard, a lonely, geeky, INFJ kind of guy who made his living running a second-hand junk store.
My copy includes a wonderful inscription, "May the junk gods always smile upon you." A week later, he sent me a postcard from the Vagabond Motor Hotel in Whittier, CA., telling me how much he enjoyed himself at Powell's. I laid the postcard into my copy and shelved it with my other favorite fictions. The memory of reading "Second Hand" and meeting Michael kept the book from leaving my library even as other authors came and went.
It's now August 2015 and I'm reading (more like devouring) "Second Hand" for the second time. It's still as sweet as I remember - a sentimental meditation on life and death, love and junk and the value we place on all of these things.
"Second Hand" would make a great little indie film. It would also be worthy of a sequel. (Just sayin')
September 26, 2016
Il negozio di cianfrusaglie di Zadoorian è come un tempio del passato perduto che rende sacro tutto ciò cui non si è mai dato importanza: gli oggetti di seconda mano, i ninnoli che Guido Gozzano chiamava «le buone cose di pessimo gusto», rappresentano, oltre che un appiglio per la memoria, il regno delle seconde possibilità. Richard, dunque, è un difensore del valore non riconosciuto, un pacato - e, a detta dei più, strambo - custode del tempo e dei ricordi...
http://athenaenoctua2013.blogspot.it/...
http://athenaenoctua2013.blogspot.it/...
January 18, 2020
Um estudo de personagem interessante e com uma pegada "filme independente", mas com um enredo bem morno. Tirando a constante menção às especificidades dos objetos de antiguidade (detalhes como marca, ano, nível de raridade etc.) encontrados nas diversas vendas de garagem e de espólios, a prosa do autor é fluída e com alguns comentários interessantes acerca de temas como memória, vida e morte, tornando a leitura menos entediante.
October 12, 2018
Bien aimé l'histoire… Chiffo et Theresa sont attachants :) Quelques petits agacements sur la traduction… Une chance qu'une amie m'avait expliqué ce qu'était une beigne... vraiment pas une expression utilisée au Québec.
June 20, 2025
per chi accumula cianfrusaglie, in casa, nella testa, nel cuore; per chi le abbandona e se ne disfa; per chi le adora e chi ne ha repulsione... alla fine ci lasciamo tutti le nostre impronte sopra
April 4, 2020
Una storia d'amore tra due personaggi fantastici scritti benissimo. Un romanzo sul dolore, sulla malattia, sulla cura che meritano le cose, le persone e gli amori.
June 20, 2013
How unfortunate. After falling in love with Zadoorian's first book, The Leisure Seeker, I was expecting to be similarly swept away with Second Hand. But, alas, it did not touch me at all.
Richard is a likeable, approachable character who has found his true calling in junk - estate sales, garage sales and consignment shops. He is content with the niche he has carved out for himself, despite his mother's loathing for his chosen occupation. With his mother's passing, he discovers an amazing junk collection in his parents' basement and begins to learn about their unimaginable life together before he was born.
But, into his life walks a crazy person - a young woman who oozes neediness and is inexplicably abusive to Richard for no reason. She swings from sultry 'come hither' to wicked 'get out of my life', causing besotted Richard to breakdown over and over.
Since the golden rule of carnal relations is "don't boff freaky chicks", this whole novel was a waste of good reading time.
Read at your own risk!
Richard is a likeable, approachable character who has found his true calling in junk - estate sales, garage sales and consignment shops. He is content with the niche he has carved out for himself, despite his mother's loathing for his chosen occupation. With his mother's passing, he discovers an amazing junk collection in his parents' basement and begins to learn about their unimaginable life together before he was born.
But, into his life walks a crazy person - a young woman who oozes neediness and is inexplicably abusive to Richard for no reason. She swings from sultry 'come hither' to wicked 'get out of my life', causing besotted Richard to breakdown over and over.
Since the golden rule of carnal relations is "don't boff freaky chicks", this whole novel was a waste of good reading time.
Read at your own risk!
November 30, 2013
We acquire, hoard, and display our treasured collections, forming attachments to the "precious" things that inspire us or make us feel at home. Richard, the protagonist of Second Hand, seriously loves the odd acquisitions that he makes for his quirky little shop, Satori Junk.
He elevates his trade into an ideology, and talks about junk moments, "These epiphanies, these occasions of shattering remembrance, are the junk moments of our lives, memory detritus that we have scattered and stashed in the musty, bent-corner cardboard folds of our brains, wrapped in psychic newspaper, Magic Markered with the appropriate memory centers, then left to molder."
Zadoorian's books, Second Hand and The Leisure Seeker, read like wryly comic plays. Both follow ordinary, modest lives through painful times of transition. In response to their anguish, his pithy midwestern characters have the good grace to indulge in self-delusion, drinking and humor, behavior that's so much more interesting than self-absorption and -pity. I'm a fan.
He elevates his trade into an ideology, and talks about junk moments, "These epiphanies, these occasions of shattering remembrance, are the junk moments of our lives, memory detritus that we have scattered and stashed in the musty, bent-corner cardboard folds of our brains, wrapped in psychic newspaper, Magic Markered with the appropriate memory centers, then left to molder."
Zadoorian's books, Second Hand and The Leisure Seeker, read like wryly comic plays. Both follow ordinary, modest lives through painful times of transition. In response to their anguish, his pithy midwestern characters have the good grace to indulge in self-delusion, drinking and humor, behavior that's so much more interesting than self-absorption and -pity. I'm a fan.
February 24, 2016
Richard is the owner Satori Junk, a second-hand thrift store. He spends his days sitting in his shop, hoping to make a sale and his off days scouring the paper for yard and estate sales looking for more items for his shop. Unfortunately Richards mother is dying of cancer and when the end arrives, he and his sister deal with the situation the only way they know how-bickering over what to do with their parents house and it's furnishings.
And into the mix of all these emotions, one day a junk goddess walks into his store and into his life and Richard is never the same again.
I absolutely loved this book! Not only for the love of thrifting and good junking but the writing was brilliant. The characters are believably flawed but searching for a way to redeem themselves. And the romance between the two, well, let's just say it really could happen! Bravo to Michael Zadoorian for his debut.
And into the mix of all these emotions, one day a junk goddess walks into his store and into his life and Richard is never the same again.
I absolutely loved this book! Not only for the love of thrifting and good junking but the writing was brilliant. The characters are believably flawed but searching for a way to redeem themselves. And the romance between the two, well, let's just say it really could happen! Bravo to Michael Zadoorian for his debut.
May 16, 2019
inizialmente è stato un po’ lento, ma verso la metà è andato via come se fosse acqua.
mi è piaciuta molto l’introspezione dei personaggi, e soprattutto notare in modo esterno il cambiamento e l’evoluzione che ha una “coppia”, se di coppia si può parlare in questo libro: all’inizio, tutto è così semplice per le belle impressioni che la persona di fronte a noi ci comunica, ma la difficoltà sta nell’accettare i demoni di questa, continuare a proteggerla dal male, anche se il male risulta essere se stessa.
dolce, commovente e a tratti anche macabro. consigliato a chi non ama le storie d’amore tradizionali.
mi è piaciuta molto l’introspezione dei personaggi, e soprattutto notare in modo esterno il cambiamento e l’evoluzione che ha una “coppia”, se di coppia si può parlare in questo libro: all’inizio, tutto è così semplice per le belle impressioni che la persona di fronte a noi ci comunica, ma la difficoltà sta nell’accettare i demoni di questa, continuare a proteggerla dal male, anche se il male risulta essere se stessa.
dolce, commovente e a tratti anche macabro. consigliato a chi non ama le storie d’amore tradizionali.
September 18, 2007
Another book from the Cranky, Pop Culture Obsessed Twenty/Thirtysomething" school of literature. Think "High Fidelity in a thrift shop," and you'll have a pretty good idea of what it's about. So while it may not be particularly sparkling or original, it's a decent enough read, especially if you're the sort who's drawn to junk culture like a moth to an ironically trendy flame (like myself, for instance).
March 23, 2016
I picked this up at a used book sale - very fitting! Quirky characters, and only a handful to keep track of. I enjoyed the foray into junking and learning the protocols of estate sale shopping. I felt so sorry for Theresa and her sad sad job at the animal shelter. I had to skim past the parts about the animal abuse. Other than that, this was a quick read although it makes me want to go clean out my basement asap!
March 9, 2020
Michael Zadoorian is a fantastic writer. This book was a quick read, but very enjoyable. There is a hidden theme throughout the book and I was sad when ut ended. Zadoorian writes as though he is sitting there talking to you. I highly recommend this book and all if his books.
March 23, 2014
vecchie cose e vecchie vite, nuovi amori e nuovo Zadoorian che non tradisce mai
July 30, 2017
I liked it. Some of the lines and scenes truly made me laugh out loud. Zadorian is a local guy, and I do lIke to support my local artists. The parts of the book dealing with cleaning out his parents home after their deaths, and how humans develop attachments to stuff - all rang eloquently true. I've done the same in the past year, and he's got it all right. The need to do it and be done and move on; and the need to avoid and disassociate all at the same moment. I was reading this book to avoid boxes from my parents house. The part I didn't find as strong was the mentally ill girlfriend. Were we supposed too see a parallel between physical junk, pets as junk, and finally, humans as junk? Am I reading too much into a comic novel? The girlfriend was literally ill because of the way our culture treats living things. If J had abandoned the mentally ill woman ( which is how our culture treats the mentally ill), she very likely would have died from her suicide attempt. Trying to weave these light and heavy themes is admirable, but difficult. The mentally ill girlfriend felt too contrived too me - though I strongly appreciate what he was trying to accomplish.
January 14, 2020
What a perfect book to start the new year. Love, grief, family and all those material things we adore that seem like junk to other people.
“.....all I know, is that this is one of my moments, and that our lives are lived in these moments, certain seconds here and there, snapshots only we can see and remember, in the way only we can remember them. They are what we carry with us, what rubs off from our fingertips, what is absorbed by the people and things we touch. They are what we take to our deaths, the real objects of our lives, our remains, our junk.”
Spoiler alert - if you don’t want to know what it’s like to work at an animal shelter that has to put them to sleep, don’t read this book.
I plan to be cremated, but the day of the dead as celebrated in Mexico and described in this book makes me think cemeteries are actually quite useful. What a beautiful and important ritual.
“.....all I know, is that this is one of my moments, and that our lives are lived in these moments, certain seconds here and there, snapshots only we can see and remember, in the way only we can remember them. They are what we carry with us, what rubs off from our fingertips, what is absorbed by the people and things we touch. They are what we take to our deaths, the real objects of our lives, our remains, our junk.”
Spoiler alert - if you don’t want to know what it’s like to work at an animal shelter that has to put them to sleep, don’t read this book.
I plan to be cremated, but the day of the dead as celebrated in Mexico and described in this book makes me think cemeteries are actually quite useful. What a beautiful and important ritual.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2019
For the first third of this book, I couldn't decide who I was going to send this book to after I finished it, but by the end, I'm not sure I want to send it on to anyone.
I still enjoyed the book, and the writing is solid, and the observations worthy...but it went a little too big, too flashy in the later parts of the book. There was plenty to be plumbed in the standard story of a "junker" and his family dynamics without the girlfriend with a nightmarish job and the unlikely resolution of that relationship. It seems to have wanted to strive for "Great American Novel" territory--a genre I'm not too fond of anyway--without putting in the extra 150 pages necessary to deal with the issues raised.
I still enjoyed the book, and the writing is solid, and the observations worthy...but it went a little too big, too flashy in the later parts of the book. There was plenty to be plumbed in the standard story of a "junker" and his family dynamics without the girlfriend with a nightmarish job and the unlikely resolution of that relationship. It seems to have wanted to strive for "Great American Novel" territory--a genre I'm not too fond of anyway--without putting in the extra 150 pages necessary to deal with the issues raised.
January 20, 2019
I was a bit taken aback halfway through the book when it turned out to be as much about animal cruelty as second hand; maybe these two topics deserved two different novels? The synopsis also teased big revelations about the main character's past as he uncover strange things in his late parents' basement ; in my opinion this part could have been more developed instead of wrapping up the whole thing in a few pages.
As a big thrift shops and garage sales enthusiast I still found this a pleasant read.
As a big thrift shops and garage sales enthusiast I still found this a pleasant read.
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