Tidy Bookcases

“My dear Boxe, come and see,” said Mr Foxe. “It has taken a week, but the library is settled. A fine sight, is it not?”

“Hmm,” said Mr Boxe.

“I said,” said Mr Foxe, “that it is a fine sight, is not?”

“Oh, of course,” said Mr Boxe. “Of course. Only...”.

“Only what?”

“Only...how have you organized them, exactly?”

“By subject matter,” said Mr Foxe. “And then by author. And then by date of publication. As one does.”

“Does one?” said Mr Boxe.

“Have you another method in mind?” asked Mr Foxe.

“What I like to do,” said Mr Boxe, “is to arrange by subject matter, and then according to which authors I think would have been good friends, so their books will sit next one another and feel cozy.”

There was a loud silence. Then Mr Boxe said,

“Foxe, what are you thinking?”

“I am thinking,” said Mr Foxe, “that  inhabiting your brain must be something like hosting a tea party in the Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussaud's.”