The Other Book Bargain of the Century
Posted by William Rabkin on July 12, 2009
No, it’s not quite as good a deal as saving $985 on a used copy of Psych: Mind Over Magic, but I’m willing to predict it might be an even better book (hard as that might be to imagine).
It’s such a good deal I couldn’t refuse it — even though I’d managed to come up with a foolproof way to keep myself from buying books. I invested in a hardcover copy of The Kindly Ones, and then every time I thought of acquiring something new, I felt so guilty that I had hardly made it past the third set of atrocities, I wouldn’t let myself pay for a new hardcover until I finished Littel’s little holocaust house of horrors. (Because there are bored children in India who would love a thousand-page catalog of sex, death, and Nazi perversions…) I can’t say I wasn’t tempted by the new releases from China Mieville and Sarah Waters I saw when I was signing yesterday at the delightful Mysteries to Die For, but one quick thought of Nazi sex torture kept my credit card in my wallet. (I’m sure they were also available at the equally delightful Mystery Bookstore in Westwood, where I had signed earlier, but there I was so overwhelmed by the enormous stack of Mr. Monk and the Dirty Cop hardcovers I couldn’t see anything else…)
But when the English edition of The Week rounded up reviews of A. S. Byatt’s new novel The Children’s Book, all of which compared it favorably to her masterpiece Possession, I could hold myself back no longer. Possession is not only one of my favorite novels, but one of three that I find myself rereading every couple of years. (The other two are The Magus and, for reasons I can’t even explain to myself, Narcissus and Goldmund. I’d throw Franny and Zooey in there, too, but I’m too embarassed to admit that.) I checked Amazon and discovered that the new book wouldn’t be out until October, and they were taken pre-orders for something north of $26.
So I checked Amazon UK — and found the book available new for eight and a half pounds. Even with seven pounds for international shipping, that’s still cheaper than waiting three months for an American edition.
Which is a lot of words to say: Go to Amazon UK and buy this book now. I did, and I’m a happier person already.
David Spencer said
Even better than Amazon.uk for saving dough on UK releases is The Book Depository (http://www.bookdepository.co.uk); cover prices a bit higher, but no shipping fee, no tax. And (weirdly) each selection has a LINK to Amazon, in case you choose to comparison shop (which makes sense if there are new/used/remaindered copies on offer, or if BD is out of stock on a limited release item).
AND they’ve just opened a US site at http://www.bookdepository.com — again, no tax and no shipping fees — that seems absurdly competitive, price-wise, which also lets you use PayPal.