Have you ever thought of going to a book fair at 3 AM? Does the idea sound wild to you? Well, from where I come from, it isn’t. In fact, it has become a tradition for many of us booklovers to gather annually in December for a whole week to attend Big Bad Wolf— the largest, cheapest and, true to its name, baddest book fair you could find in the city. Notable bestsellers, and some obscure hard-to-find gems, are sold here at only half price if not lesser. The fair operates 24 hours for that whole week, giving anybody the chance to drop in at any time to shop for books. The idea is brilliant because nothing beats a walk down aisles after aisles filled with books when everybody else is snoozing.
Big Bad Wolf is the only time you'll see people swarming into the auditorium, with bloodshot eyes in the witching hour, scouring for books. This makes for a riveting atmosphere. And overwhelming too, if I may add. It definitely gives the adrenaline rush to book lovers. With books piled haphazardly (forget about alphabetical stacking!), the quest of finding the books on your list is like scavenging for a treasure chest of gold. You’ll end up spending hours here. Once in awhile, you’ll meet some familiar faces and the search becomes collective. I personally love the over-empowering smell of books in the air. Seeing thousands of books stack on top of one another like a couple of buildings in a crowded city just leaves me breathless all the time.
That early Saturday morning, I made a pact with my friend J to reach the fair at about two in the morning and shop together. The traffic heading toward the fair, however, was quite extreme when midnight came. We ended up arriving at different times. By the time I reached the entrance, J and her brother had already checked out from the place earlier. N and I lingered around the area until a few minutes past four, stocking up on our bookshelf with more thick, recipe books and a few from my favorite Roald Dahl and Alex Quick. I even bumped into my former student who was carrying a large trolley with him. This is not an uncommon sight at the fair. Most of those attending brought with them suitcases and wheeled luggage bags to fill up with books! If anybody had forgotten to do this (much like the two of us), the fair provides used boxes for people to lug around their books. Splendid idea, no?
All in all, it’s always wonderful to see many KL-lites crowding the fair every year. Communally, we are not as big of a reader as most New Yorkers or Parisians. It’s still uncommon to find people reading books while commuting in public transport as you would find in other big cities. The most you can find is a number of bookworms hiding in the small sections at the bookstore, taking a sneak peak of their favorite reads. So to find a whole lot of Malaysians haggling for cheap books in the wee hours is a pleasant surprise! Despite Kindle or apps like the Oyster taking over the world with digitized books, I find it amazing that many of us are still opting for more tactile books (or "book books," just like how IKEA put it in their recent ad campaign). One of life’s greatest pleasures is to flip through the pages of a book, especially when you’re under the covers just before bedtime. There’s just something warm and intimate about doing so. Long live the book book!
