In the autobiographical Angels Walk With Me, Angela Buck explains in 210 pages how a life plagued by child abuse, alcoholism, and a stay in a mental institution was redeemed by a reunion with God. Last Thursday, Buck, an Iowa resident in town visiting relatives, decided to spread the gospel to downtown D.C. Setting up a book-signing table outside Borders Books and Music at 18th and L Streets NW, Buck spent the morning playing an evangelical J.K. Rowling. That is, until a fellow vendor informed her that selling merchandise—even if it proclaims the love of God—requires purchasing a Class B license from the city’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. Buck quickly packed it in. “There’s no way I was going to pay that much money to do this,” she said. —Dash Robinson