Thanks to the fine folks at the Susquehanna University bookstore, I once purchased a bag of books for $0.50 a piece.

Some of them were promising steals at clearance prices. Others were of the “why the heck not, they’re 50 cents” kinds of purchases. In the end, only one of them has been even slightly worth my time. It’s not “The Columnist,” which was one of the abysmal literary endeavors of my life.

Spike Lee’s “Best Seat In The House” is the one that makes the cut, though I’m pretty sure having the late Ralph Wiley involved was instrumental in the experience. It’s a basketball memoir of his life as a Knicks fan. The book covers the Knicks from his early childhood until roughly 1997. That timeline, read 10 years later, is somewhat interesting to look back on based on his comments about certain players and teams.

Penny Hardaway? Oh, there was a time he was supposed to be good. Juwan Howard, Chris Webber and Rod Strickland? Apparently they had promise for the Washington Wizards nee Bullets. Oh well.

There’s only one anecdote I feel the need to pass on. When he was a kid, Spike used to ride his bike from Brooklyn into Manhattan with his brothers and some friends. On one such trip, his brother Chris’ bike gets a flat. Not wanting to walk the thing alllllll the way back home, Chris picks it up and throws it into the East River.

There’s more than just straight basketball talk here. Spike brings in the chronology of his films to bring out certain points about the atmosphere surrounding sports and the country’s cultural status. It’s an effective way to mix worlds and widen the perspective of an otherwise possibly restrictive read.

It’s also number 18 on the list. Now onto John Kennedy Toole’s “A Confederacy of Dunces”