My mom called me on the phone today.
Mom: Don’t forget to get your nephew something for graduating. If not for him, do it for your sister, it means more to her than him.
Me: Oh yes, I have been thinking about it. I was planning on giving him my copy of Steppenwolf.
Mom: Yeah or maybe a Target gift card would be good.
Ouch! Dismissed!
I am reminded of a passage from Big Sur -
Long nights simply thinking about the usefulness of that little wire scourer, those little yellow copper things you buy in supermarkets for 10 cents, all to me infinitely more interesting than the stupid and senseless “Steppenwolf” novel in the shack which I read with a shrug, this old fart reflecting the “conformity” of today and all the while he thought he was a big Nietzsche, old imitator of Dostoevsky fifty years too late (he feels tormented in a “personal hell” he calls it because he doesnt like what other people like!)
Saturn in Libra Question: Have you ever been politely dismissed?
2nd House Question: Would you rather get a well worn book from your aunt’s personal library or a voucher for things from a supermarket?
Consult with Nota, Follow Nota.
14 Responses to “Phone Call Wherein My Mom is Jack Kerouac”
I’d give him both.
I desperately wanted a moped for graduation. my mother gave me a ring of the same value. in what reality I was living that I thought I had a chance in hell of getting a moped, I don’t know. I still have the ring. I’ll give it to one of my daughters some day. still bitter about the moped though.
I do remember the blank book my cousin gave me for graduation. I used it and still have it. I don’t remember anything else I got though.
2nd house Virgo with Pluto Uranus in it opposite the sun and chiron. denied!
I say give him the book with a note about what it means to you and an invitation for him to share what it means to him after he’s read it. With a nice Target gift card as a bookmark. He might need some dish towels. 
A long ago friend gave me that book I keep the memory he will to.
Inscribed books are the best, wish I’d get some as gifts instead of “you’re so hard to buy for” gift cards lol. Is he graduating college or highschool? Target has some great dorm/new apartment stuff.
damn. i would’ve said the same thing as your mother. i am definitely guilty of being politely dismissive.
gift-giving is tricky. i think any graduate would appreciate gift cards + money. it’s a safe gift to give. but if you have a certain relationship with your nephew, then opt for something more meaningful.
my strategy: for big days like graduations i give something pretty standard, because if it’s meaningful or subtle, chances are it’ll just get drowned out by the excitement of the occasion. then i give something really meaningful out-of-the-blue, so the person has a chance to look at it in its own context. like my niece who is in college and was staying over, she had asked me for a book to read. and i looked over my library and handed her a small stack of my favorite books. and i said, ‘i love and recommend all these books. THESE one you can keep if you like, but these have to be returned.’ she ended up taking one and i was happy to give something meaningful that she found meaningful too.
A new copy of the book with inscription. Buying something = making the effort – personal fave = personal touch. Hits not just saturn in libra = buying something/gift giving/polite, but also pluto in cap = history/meaning/his development.
Gemini sun, Moon in Pisces, Sag rising here. The absolute best gifts are one like your copy of Steppenwolf – with or without an inscription – but a simple inscription is appropriate for his graduation. Your Mom communicated her thoughts directly to you, which is good and shows sheis comfortable enough with you to tell you what she thinks straightforwardly. But, hope you can feel and say it back to her that a gift card to Target is meaningless. I’d fold a fifty into the book for a temporary bookmark and tell him to use the money on a few bottles of wine or loads of coffee to enjoy while he is reading the book. Peace!
Nota, seriously, I love your posts. You get it. You are a biblophile. And as one of the tribe, I absolutely would prefer a worn, loved copy of a favorite book belonging to a bright family member.
If your nephew is a biblophile, then give it to him.
If not, then get him a target gift card. What your mom said may be irrelevant, because she knows in which camp she falls.
Faded pages of a brilliant tale >>>> cheap crap from China you may need now, but will lug around as crap in years to come and will ultimately send away to a landfill.
Or compromise: Amazon gift card.
Also, dismissals, if effective, can never really be polite in the delivery. The act of polite-ness comes in the uptake
for future ref with respect to all saturn in libra topics –
– because balance is the name of the game
krustallos – perfect example 
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I pick Steppenwolf.
But then I’ve got saturn in the second. What do I want more plastic crap for?