ghost in an old paperback

I don't remember where I first learned of Alfred Bester, but somewhere along the line, I did. I found The Stars My Destination about the same time I was reading another of his better known books, The Demolished Man. Unappreciated, but there is a strong percentage of the books that I read which are by unknown or unappreciated. Under appreciated. Under read.

My copy of The Stars My Destination is a 1957 first. But it's now much beaten, brown-pages, falling apart as I read it. When I finish it, I will be purging it. There won't be anything left. If a book has a piece of the soul of its author in it, am I killing him by recycling his book?