Obselete, An Encyclopedia of Once-Common Things Passing Us By, by Anna Jane Grossman ’98. Well it was quite a thrill to see that Anna Jane had written a book. Obsoleteis a very funny book about those objects and ways of doing things that have moved from the spotlight to the dark wings. There’s plenty of nostalgia and plenty we will never miss. While Anna Jane can’t suspend the march of time,she does rescue some precious memories from sinking into oblivion. From Adult Book Stores to Writing letters, Anna Jane reminds us of what we’re missing from A to W. She has a wealth of sparkling entries, like the one on Cash or another on Gas Station Attendants . Did you notice? They’re pretty much gone (if you leave out New Jersey). Everything you can possible imagine about archaic Wite-Out is immortalized in her entry on Correction Fluid. All this stuff feels just so recent to me. I still have a landline and remember how my family would listen to The Lone Ranger and Jack Benny on the radio before any of us had even heard of TV. Would that it were true that there are no more wrinkles. I’ll have to read that entry again.
