Re: [b] Morally-objectionable collector's item???

Almost exclusively (at least in our store) Mein Kampf is purchased by philosophy 'students' or people attempting to figure him out. After all if you don't have all the information how can you come to an full conclusion? I see nothing morally wrong with selling _any_ used book. Banning those books, even by the expedient of not offering them, merely makes them forbidden fruit and all the more desirable to those that might agree with them. Banning any book is morally repugnant, regardless of it's probable merit, or lack thereof.


At 11/21/2006 02:56 PM, you wrote:

interesting topic.  What about other material like Mein Kampf? Anyone
have any standing policies?
--
Jeremy

It was announced a few moments ago that the O.J.Simpson book, "If I
Did It" has been pulled from distribution and the accompanying TV
special has been cancelled.

Apparently some copies of the book have already been sold. Estimates
range from several hundred to several thousand copies now in readers'
hands. I have been unable to learn whether any ARCs were distributed.

So what is the collective wisdom here??  Is this likely to become a
collector's item?  Should scouts scour the shelves for any remaining
copies?  Is this something you would carry in your inventory, or
would you regard it as without redeeming value?

inquiring minds, etc.....

patterson

NYT Students read aloud for record 6 days

Students read aloud for record 6 days

By Ben Dobbin, Associated Press Writer  |  November 20, 2006

ROCHESTER, N.Y. --A team of high school seniors set a six-day reading
record on Monday as a way to bolster students' interest in books and
boost their school's spirit.

Southside High School's principal said he pursued the reading marathon
to inspire a school still reeling from the 2001 arrest of a senior who
had smuggled a duffel bag full of bombs and guns into the school
intending to carry out a killing spree.

The teen, who was sentenced to more than eight years in prison,
surrendered peacefully after students notified officials that he had
passed someone a threatening note.

"That was just one of the shadows we've tried to overcome," said
principal Christopher Krantz, who took over the school in 2004. "When I
came here, the school was just kind of stumbling. It had been through
eight principals in eight years. It had some negative press; it had lost
pizazz."

When the clock struck 5 p.m. Monday, six National Honor Society members
drew a standing ovation from hundreds of parents, teachers and
classmates. Cheers also rang out 11 hours earlier, at 6 a.m., when they
matched a Guinness World Record set in October 2005 by five Britons who
read aloud continuously for 117 hours at the airport in Manchester, England.

In mostly one-hour shifts, they read more than 20 beloved children's
books, including the six-volume Harry Potter series, seven "Goosebumps"
thrillers and Katherine Paterson's "Bridge to Terabithia." They wrapped
up their epic, 128-hour performance on the school auditorium stage with
"Oh, the Places You'll Go," a Dr. Seuss classic.

Between their reading spells, the students played table tennis, cards
and Scrabble or crawled into their tents onstage for little more than
four hours of sleep at a time. A nurse or a doctor was on duty nearby at
all hours.

One student developed laryngitis and had to cut back to reading for just
10 or 15 minutes at a time until her voice improved with the help of a
humidifier and infusions of honey.

"For the last six days, reading has been the cool thing to do," the
principal said. "I've had people say to me, 'You know what, we turned
the TV off this weekend and read as a family. It was really
inspirational to a lot of people."

Get Smart!

Get Smart is casting and will start shooting soon:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9671.html

Jackson Off Hobbit

In a tiff with New Line, director Peter Jackson says he is off the Hobbit:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9670.html

S.U.B.!

http://www.xtracycle.com/sub.php

Nexus Returns; '300' Sales Soar!

Eisner-winning artist Steve Rude has formed Rude Dude Productions and plans to publish a new full color, quarterly Nexus comic (written by Mike Baron):
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9635.html
 
After the trailer for Zack Snyder's film of Frank Miller's 300 hit theaters sales of the graphic novel soared-and Dark Horse has a plan to keep it in print:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9631.html
 

The 'Cashews' Gang

http://www.palfloat.com/cashews/

B5 Direct-to-DVD; Spidey's Back in Black!

J. Michael Straczynski is writing and directing a new Babylon 5 direct-to-DVD release for Warner Home Video:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9619.html

Fwd: [b] On Carefully Choosing a Book by Its Cover

EDITORIAL NOTEBOOK
On Carefully Choosing a Book by Its Cover
By ELEANOR RANDOLPH
The fact that booksellers are scrambling to market their
wares at other places besides bookstores makes sense, but
something seems a little off kilter when publishers change
a book cover to suit the fashions of the day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/opinion/05sun3.html?th&emc=th

By ELEANOR RANDOLPH
Published: November 5, 2006

To make my view clear from the start, anything that sells more good
books is good, period. So the fact that booksellers are scrambling to
market their wares at other places besides bookstores makes sense. If
a store sells pots and pans, it should also sell instruction manuals —
i.e. cookbooks. Auto shops would be a good place to peddle "The
Complete Guide to Used Cars" or "On the Road."

But something seems a little off kilter when publishers are changing a
book cover to suit the fashions of the day. As detailed in an article
by Julie Bosman in The Times last week, stalwarts like Hachette Book
Group USA will now redo the cover of a book to go with a store's
merchandise. (Imagine, for a moment, Jon Stewart in ecru.)
HarperCollins has been known to take its cue from the fashion industry
— featuring more covers in bright green and sangria red this spring as
dictated by the crowd from Paris and Bryant Park.

The publishing industry has taken to selling books in any place and
any color because book sales have been sagging and these new marketing
techniques seem to work. At least in the short term. But what happens
if buyers purchase only one book per season? Or worse, imagine if your
customer buys only a few tasteful-looking hardbacks when redecorating
the house? This would not seem to be a promising long-term business
plan.

To be fair, books have always been considered a fashion accessory in
some quarters. Anybody who has ever purchased a yard of books or a
backyard of books knows that just having these little items around can
raise the tone of the lowliest motel restaurant. As an obsessive
collector of books myself, I have always thought that a room is
softened by bookcases. And their dust, of course.

But this bookselling trend seems different. Ms. Bosman cited one hip
New York shop featuring the careful juxtaposition of a
black-and-orange sweater-and-skirt combination next to Annie
Leibovitz's "A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005" with its sleek
black-and-white cover. For a mere $270 or so you can be almost as
glamorous as your coffee table.

One way to deal with this need to match book and look might be to find
some chameleon-like material that can imitate any color around it.
Failing that, publishers could start using something that reflects the
hue du jour, like aluminum foil. Or maybe they could sell wrappers
that do not have a high school mascot on them — book wrappers in
stylish magenta or cerulean or whatever looks good with your
complexion. Then, if you happened to be interested in what's inside a
book, you could read almost anything safely camouflaged behind this
year's color-coordinated cover.

Return of the Phone Booth!

http://www.demco.com/CGI-BIN/LANSAWEB?PROCFUN+LWDCWEB01+LWDC065+PRD+ENG+FUNCPARMS+ZZWGOTOPG(A0800):blk10845&EML0054GN04

Weisman's immersive alternate reality novel "Cathy's Book"

Jordan Weisman's immersive alternate reality novel Cathy's Book had a very impressive sell-in for a $17.95 hardcover:
http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/9549.html

Snark

http://www.ibookcollector.com/eande.htm

http://www.lewiscarrollsociety.org.uk/