OK, OK, you got me… I know that Emile Durkheim did not kill himself on the Market-Frankford line in Philly. That’s not what I meant to imply at all… what I’m actually talking about is back when I was still a young college student riding the El and trying to get some of my reading done for an Intro to Sociology course.
A few days after taking a trip up to Port Richmond from West Philly, I got a call from my sister asking if I was OK. She told me about she and her friend spotting a guy on the El reading Durkheim’s “Suicide” with it’s stark red and white cover, and wondering if the guy was thinking about doing something drastic. Her friend even suggested walking over to talk to him. My sister looked over at the guy, laughed, and said, “Oh, that’s OK. It’s just my brother.”
Not only had I been reading a book called “Suicide”, but it was the edition with the bright red cover and the word “SUICIDE” in large white print (pictured at the top of this post).
Needless to say, I now own quite a collection of book covers.