Short story

A man, who used to be a bookstore worker, walked into a bookstore. In the bookstore, another younger customer kneeled, inspecting a copy of Pop 1280 by Jim Thompson. "That's a good book," said the older man. "Really?" asked the younger man, who told the older that he was just getting into noir, and had read Hammett and Chandler and Ross MacDonald and someone else, and was looking for the next author to immerse himself in. "You'll like Thompson, then. He's pulpier than those writers -- "

"I like that. What's his best book?"

"I like The Killer Inside Me the best, but Pop 1280 is good too."

When the older man left, he was pleased to have made the sale. A young man on his knees is looking to get picked up, one way or another.