This week APOL breezed into the Boston area where it was spotted in Cambridge on a ramble around the storied Harvard campus, in the course of which it visited the offices of the Harvard Review, the Harvard Crimson, and the Harvard Lampoon, shilling for an interview or perhaps a review. Later, it was posing for a publicity still in the Yard with the statue of John Harvard when a group of prospective freshmen came by on a tour. Their guide informed them that students traditionally rub the toe of John Harvard’s left foot for luck.
This has put quite a sheen on the shoe, yet the “tradition” is a hoax of recent origin. APOL knows a lot about hoaxes (in fact it is a recognized source on the subject), and overhearing this codswallop, could not resist setting the record straight. “If you want good luck,” it told the impressionable youths, “forget the founder’s foot. Way better to kiss my cover instead.” Always a charmer, APOL made itself available to those of all genders (it is open-minded to a fault); but the book was definitely on to a value proposition. Harvard undergrad tuition runs US$45,000 a year. A copy of APOL retails for just US$15.99.
At the end of the day, it was back On The Road for the tour. APOL was last seen on US-3 headed north for Lowell to pay homage to hepcat Jack Kerouac
A note to readers: APOL is the anthropomorphic version of my novel A Person of Letters, gone walkabout without its author. (A wink and a tilt of the hat here to magical realism.) Check in here or follow my Facebook Author Page for future reports on APOL’s quixotic and unpredictable world tour.