by SalliAnne Maliguine on Monday, 31 December 2012 at 12:57 · “Parts of Fliegelman’s Desire take place in a bookstore, and this last year I met a young woman working at a Tower Books in Sacramento. . . She had read my novel, it seems, and was swayed enough by it to take a job in a bookstore.” ~Lewis Buzbee, “Confessions of a First Novelist” By the time I hit twenty I felt accomplished: I'd retired from dancing, enrolled in classes at Sierra College, and worked a series of temporary office jobs. With the dream of one day becoming a waitress, I interviewed for, and landed, a job as counter-girl at Sam’s Kosher Deli. On day three of the job, while slicing bagels, chatting with the boss about a movie that had just hit the theaters, my left middle finger went through the meat slicer. Seventeen stitches later, I let go of my food service fantasy. At about that time, a friend invited me to join her for an afternoon at Sacramento Reads, a festival in a park. I said...