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| Hearsay: |
Bookninja: Hey, newspaper! Fuck you, clown. Moby mobylises the troops. Pitchforks, stand to my left. Torches, stand to my right. Do not charge until you see the whites of their collars. MAAARCH!
“Buying the newest hardcover…not very smart,” says a helpful article in the Baltimore Sun. Huh? The same newspaper that just unloaded their Books Editor (in the same industry that constantly wails, “help us! Print is dying!”) encouraged its online readers yesterday to avoid buying books (among other things). Apparently, this is one of the easiest ways for the paper to help its readers trim expenses during this current economic climate. Should we not buy newspapers or magazines as well? Well, they didn’t say that…
The Sun lists a whole slew of things to avoid in these difficult times: buying movies, eating out, going to bars—even owning a pet (time to give up Fido—“Sure, your four-legged friend may be fun and loving, but between food, vet bills and toys, how much are they really costing you?”). They make some good points (stop buying $10 packs of cigarettes, stay within the speed limit to avoid having to pay speeding tickets), but many of the things they warn against seem plain silly. It appears that nobody is paying attention to editorial content at the paper anymore.
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July 30th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Haven’t book sales actually done well in the recession, due to the lipstick effect? (That is, cheaper luxury goods sell well in a recession, because people are buying lipstick and books instead of Chanel No. 5 and new TVs.)
Anyway, the Sun is right about one thing: hardcovers, especially by Jodi Picoult, are totally for suckers.
July 30th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I don’t get it. If I don’t have a dog, what’s the point of buying the newspaper?
July 31st, 2009 at 9:46 pm
Well, I haven’t stopped buying books and magazines. Getting particular about which magazines and books I buy, but I haven’t stopped. Hoping I won’t ever have to.
August 3rd, 2009 at 2:50 am
Would seem to me that in this time of hardship one inexpensive pastime is to get a good book, curl up with a hot cup of something, and immerse yourself in another world where recession and economic gloom don’t knock at the door. My new book, Randolph’s Challenge Book One – The Pendulum Swings should do the job – Oooop! silly me, it’s a hard cover!!
Tell you what Sun, let’s do a deal – you read my book, I’ll read your paper!
Chris Warren
Author and Freelance Writer
Randolph’s Challenge Book One – The Pendulum Swings
August 4th, 2009 at 5:58 pm
Sorry, but buying the fancy hardback is just nuts unless you really are a book junkie. Otherwise, wait for it to come on paperback, or better yet, borrow it from the library. Even though the Moby folks make it sounds as if book purchasing is not expensive, a couple of hardbacks at 25 to 30 bucks do add up, and in this economy, that is certainly something easy to cut back. Ranting about this is just not something that inspires sympathy from people who may be strapped. Yes, the Sun article is meager, to put it mildly, but it does not make the suggestion to cut back on some things less valid.
I did think the pet thing was a bit cruel, but then again, I am biased. We have two cats we love at home who are part of the family.
And for the record, I still do buy some books, but I shop around, buy used when I can, paperbacks, so on.