Today’s the day when the denizens of Hyde Park congregate in the open-air plaza at the Hyde Park Shopping Center, looking for used books. Cardboard boxes of books, roughly divided by subject, sit atop folding tables, awaiting the senior citizens who will buy them (yes, the demographic at the book fair skews OLD).
As I was taking my walk, I chanced upon the Fair and stopped abruptly at the sight below. I did not move my book; this is exactly as it was when I photographed it in the “Religion and Theology” section.
There my work sits, next to the Apocryphal New Testament. Worse, I opened the book to inspect it, and IT SEEMS TO BE UNREAD. Oy! Nor was there a price in it.
So, if you live in my area, you may be able to get a good bargain on this book in brand-new condition. And, to show this poor unread book some love, if you buy it and bring it to my lab, only a 15-minute walk away, I’ll sign it and draw a cat in it for you. (The Religion section is right along 55th Street at the south end of the plaza.)
UNREAD! That’s like a knife in the gut. . .
It’s probably unread because it’s a fairly modern book in the library and all the cool kids buy their books (often electronically) from Amazon or borrow them electronically from the library.
Pity it is in the wrong book category. Have no fear, it shall be bought and read.
I don’t think it is a bad place to put such a book. In my local public library, books criticizing religion and theology appear in the religion section. I don’t read them because I don’t need to be persuaded that theology is hogwash, but I think it is good for other people.
I tend to read books quickly and they don’t necessarily show any evidence of being read afterwards.
Same with me (the trying to keep them in pristine condition part). Those written by authors I know or have met, are on a special shelf, others I donate to my local library. Either way, I like them to be in good condition for the next person.
I bought this book second hand in Blackwells in Oxford many years ago. I told my daughter, who works for OUP, and she told me that it had not yet been published. Obviously a reviewer wanted to profit rather than keep.
Ouch! Aren’t reviewers prohibited from selling the book before publication? Or is that just a convention?
Because of the way the “it” is placed (immediately following your mention of the Apocryphal New Testament) in the third paragraph of the post, at first I thought “it” referred to the Apocrypha, then wondered why PCC(E) would lament that book being unread; then it clicked.
The confusion surely occurred because I would lament either book going unread, and I must take issue with commenters who dismiss it out of hand. The Apocryphal New Testament, especially that edition is extremely interesting and is a valuable storehouse of knowledge of all kinds for any number of reasons, and shouldn’t be casually dismissed on the grounds that one’s an atheist and so religious documents must be prima facie dismissed.
A life long science lover and atheist I’m reading your Faith vs Fact for the pure pleasure of the writing. Wonderful. Thank you PCC emeritus.
Well they missed a great read.
+1!
You could always try the old Cheeseface gambit:
https://media2.fdncms.com/sevendaysvt/imager/u/original/23671423/crime2-2-46f4fd3b9fbd9e02.jpg
I think some used book stores just price everything at half the retail price. Easier than having to price every book. But finding the book in the religious section is not good. I notice in the library and book stores, lots of books in the history section that do not belong there. They are way too loose with that.
You are in good company, for I own a set of the 1896 Appleton & Co. edition of Charles Darwin’s wonderful works and more than a few of them have uncut pages, absolute and irrefutable proof that they have never been read in all of their 123 years of existence. All one can conclude is that the world is full of stupid people and that is unlikely to change perceptibly in the next 123 years, but perhaps in the intervening years, decades, some lonely loser like myself will stumble upon said book and be overwhelmed with the desire to consume it, cover to cover. Alas, with my Darwin collection I am quite resistant to the idea of operating upon such august pages with a book knife after so long a life intact so I may have to get a cheap copy to read in their stead, thus encouraging future generations to wonder to themselves what sort of fool owns such books and fails to read them without knowing to full story.
You don’t sound like a “lonely loser” to me! You seem very interesting indeed.
Much appreciated, thank you. I am indeed lonely, well, I do have a large cat who keeps me somewhat sane. Loser, well, that’s my estimation based on my own goals and dreams. But interesting? I think that based on the Reader’s Photos, I may be near bottom of the interesting barrel. That is what makes this site so wonderful; there is a such great deal of talent and intellect that I pale in comparison. And unlike our gracious host, I could only dream of having a book laying forlornly in a bargain bin. Getting published, never mind being read, is such a fantastic idea to me…I cannot imagine how anyone accomplishes such a feat! A victory in and of itself. I do so hope the good professor finds a few more books in him. I can guarantee at least one copy will be kept from the clearance shelf.
Cheers.
Well, you’re a lovely writer, so there’s that! I’m sorry you feel lonely. I too have a large cat, a ginger tabby, and he keeps me good company. If you lived anywhere near Ottawa, we could go for a coffee (or a tea) and maybe you would feel less lonely?
“UNREAD! That’s like a knife in the gut. . .”
What’s worse is finding used copies of your books that still contain private and personal inscriptions. This happened to me so often that, when signing my books, I took to making the inscriptions even more private and personal whether I knew the person or not–e.g., “To Sheila, in memory of that night on the beach when we went all the way.” For some reason, this didn’t seem to have any effect.
😀
That’s hilarious 😀
Commiserations but…if the graphic below relates to Fact vs Faith then I unread copy is not so bad. To have so many people buy your book /and/ review it is the stuff of dreams. Congratulations. 🙂
All of my books look unread because, like my DVDs and other collections, I take great care of them. It may have simply been owned by a meticulous obsessive like myself.
I’m also that way (: It can be annoying living like that though, I feel like I gotta be careful with everything I touch.
You’re not the only writer to discover his pride-and-joy in the “remainder bin.”
There’s a reason why Stephen King, Dave Barry, Roy Blount, Jr, Amy Tan and a whole buncha other best-selling authors named their pick-up band “The Rock Bottom Remainders”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-QoxDWAbi0
I caught one of their first gigs, with Warren Zevon sitting in on bass, at a now-defunct little dive bar called “The Taurus” in Coconut Grove, during the Miami Book Fair, waaay back in the day.
King should be wearing the 70’s-era Clapton shirt, “No Snow No Show”
Or more like “No Snow No It”
If I’m not mistaken, it is William Golding who would tell an amusing story about finding a copy of a book by a literary rival, whom he really didn’t like, at a derisory price in a box outside a used-book store. He picked the book up, chortling a little, only to discover under it a copy of one of his own books at an even lower price.
Clive James wrote a poem called “The Book of My Enemy has been Remaindered, and I am Glad”. I wonder if any of his have ever been remaindered.
“Dear Sir or Madame will you read my book
It took me years to write will you take a look”
Sorry PCC, just couldn’t resist.
I believe that calls for one of those +1’s the kids are always going on about.
I’ve come to realize that there’s a Beatles lyric for just about anything in life.
Fret not. The book would have looked unread had I sent it to one of my siblings. I wouldn’t have wasted the time and postage on them. A lost cause. Maybe the sender had hoped for a better outcome. I personally will hold on to my copy and still encourage others to buy.
O ! +1 ! Ms amyt, indeed ! =
= ” … … had I sent it to one of my siblings ” and soooo, so as well, … …
” I wouldn’t have wasted the time and postage
on them. ” = evangelical tRumpster religionists … … the lot o’all three o’em.
Blue
Think of it this way. The Apocrypha have been around for about two millennia. If Faith vs Fact lasts that long, you’re golden.
Nah, it was a gift. Unfortunately the recipient died before getting around to reading it. The executor, being a troglodytic illiterate disposed of it along with the deceased’s entire library.
Yah, that’s the ticket.
Or perhaps the recipient received two copies.
You are on the right track
Some kind soul purposely bought it and donated it to the fair so someone not so well off could afford it. It was a humanitarian gesture.
There are worse fates for an author than seeing their books in a book fair bin. I was co-author of a very niche maths/computing book published in the early 1990s. I received royalties of £400 the first year, which was a welcome addition to my meagre salary as a young academic. The year after, the royalties fell to £40, and to £10 the year after. Then I received a letter from the publisher advising me that bookshops were returning unsold copies, and that the remaining stock was going to be pulped.
Something similar happened to me in the 1970s with books on cosmology. But I notice that my sister’s books on feminism and politics from the 1980s are still pulling in the royalties.
Yes, and I regard myself as lucky to have sold a few hundred copies of a vastly overpriced Oxford Press thing, mostly to academic libraries I think, before the time (namely now!) when the latter are not given the resources to buy nearly as many.
It happens to all.
RGT (above) referenced ‘Paperback Writer’. I’m reminded of Billy Joel’s similar plaint –
Ah, it took me years to write it
They were the best years of my life
It was a beautiful song
But it ran too long
If you’re gonna have a hit
You gotta make it fit
So they cut it down to 3:05
and
I make all kinds of money
When I go on the stage
Ah, you’ve seen me in the papers
I’ve been in the magazines
But if I go cold I won’t get sold
I’ll get put in the back in the discount rack
Like another can of beans
cr
In my habitual off-topic manner:
A demonstration the the brain’s (at least mine) hanging tightly to a falsehood: Hyde Park London? Why there? Maybe it’s a long journey for you to Antarctica–from Tilbury, roughly similar to the (unlamented by me) Scott’s, or even earlier, Darwin’s almost!
And then: Of course, I once even lived for a time in Hyde Park Chicago!!
(On-topic, sort of: I do own your 2 popular books, and they’re not unread.)
You should have signed it and put it back.
That would have been just so ironic and whimsical. Lovely idea!
cr
I thought about it, but I might have gotten in trouble. I would have liked to have signed it with my name and the note, “I hope you enjoy this book that has been rejected, unread, by somebody else. Best wishes.”
If God had read the book, because He is perfect, it would look pristine. Also, he would bung it in the theology section because that is the only section.
I am pretty sure that that is what happened.
I own a copy of that book! But unfortunately, I live in Canada, so I can’t have Mr. Coyne sign it. *sigh* Sad face ):
Owning an e-copy of the book, there’s one that won’t be found in the bin.
However, I read it, so… 🙂