No, it doesn't. I absolutely agree!

Lee, your assumption that Yuck and I are the same person reeks of racial profiling; we're just too similarly-named people who share a dislike for the writing of Harold Rhenisch, heretical as that may seem to you. The only prose of Rhenisch's I've read are his intro to Free Will and some horribly garbled, self-indulgently clever book reviews (in which the book under review takes a backseat to HR's hamming it up), based on which I have a hard time imagining how he could possibly be one of our master prose stylists. And by "brilliant" are you talking Yeats-brilliant? Rilke-brilliant? Or Can-brilliant? Cubic zirconium is so often mistaken for more precious stones hereabouts.

>>"we're just too similarly-named people"

Too similarly named indeed.

I wouldn't say your dislike of Rhenisch is "heretical"; in fact, it's the orthodox stance. Take a look at Out of the Interior or Tom Thomson's Shack. You might be pleasantly surprised.

By "brilliant," I mean it knocked my socks off.

Silly me and my homophonic typos! I'm sure Yuck would never make such an egregious error. Honestly, don't you think if one person was trying to "manufacture consensus," she'd pick two completely different names?

What strikes me as off in Free Will is Rhenisch's apparent inability to condense his thoughts into necessary phrases and strong rhythms. Some of his ideas were interesting, but ideas aren't the make-or-break of verse composition. There were a few flashes in his poems, but for a poem to be great or "brilliant" in my view (stealing from Coleridge), the choice and order of words has to be indisputable (much else has to happen, but this is fundamental), and in all of the poems in Free Will there were great chunks I'd've cut out altogether and many other passages that were just plain clumsy and inarticulate in their rendering. I know you're not defending this particular book and sometimes very good writers produce very bad writing, but my introduction to HR hasn't exactly spurred me to seek out more. But if I happen across his prose works, I might give them a glance.

Edited by author 03-29-2005 10:04 AM
Indian found in cowboy book

Native American athlete Jim Thorpe, or, well, an old ticket stub referencing him, slides out of a Jesse James pulp. Time warp.

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Do used books cut into new-book sales?
A recent study says no. In my case it's hard enough finding the books I like new let alone used. Who knew erotica about copy editors would be so hard to find?

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Where's the best place to buy used books online?
Jessa Crispin of Bookslut fame does the research for you.

Three of the books that arrived did, in fact, match the conditions indicated on the site. One book had underlined text, something not mentioned in the description. (There is no place to report this at Abebooks—unlike Alibris and eBay, Abebooks does not include bookseller ratings.) But I could return the book, as part of the 30-day guarantee offered on all book purchases. But for $4, I figure, I got what I paid for.

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I'll miss the smell more than anything...

What if the future can only learn about the second-hand book store second-hand?


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I opened my bookshop seven years ago, straight out of university, as a break from my studies. Everyone told me that I would fail: friends and family actually in some cases took bets. The average wager was six months to a year. I have persevered by accepting less of a wage than I made while a student, though I have enjoyed almost every day at work.
 
But things have become much more difficult of late. Rents have increased; employee costs have increased; as has postage, phone and utilities. It all eats into the bottom line. But what may be the final nail in the proverbial coffin is the habits of my customers. Not the regulars, who come in weekly, bi-weekly or monthly, like clockwork, and who will be with me until my shop closes its doors (alas, possibly sooner than later.) But my irregular clientele, off the street: they no longer browse. They are not interested in taking half an hour and searching. They keep the engine running and pop their head in to see if I have the latest Oprah pick, or diet book, and when I say no they leave just as quickly again. They do not go from East of Eden to OF Mice and Men or Shining Bright; the next month they no longer seem aware that Steinbeck existed. They seem to want their tastes dictated to them, rather than slowly, and sometimes accidentally, discovering something for themselves.

In a 1000 square feet, I have 3 times the history, 5 times the philosophy, and perhaps 20 times the poetry of the local Chapters. I have no real desire to devote space to Dr. Phil. If I close the bricks and mortar shop and go on-line, I'll be able to make more real money, and work far less in doing so. (half my income comes from on-line sales as is, and I devote a small fraction of my work day to it.) I hate the thought of closing, though it may be necessary. I take no solace from the fact that a few in this town might miss me.

Don't buy new books
They depreciate as soon as you take them out of the store.

a landmark study released Wednesday confirms what publishers, authors and booksellers have believed -- and feared -- since the rise of the Internet: Used books have become a modern powerhouse, driven by high prices for new works and by the convenience of finding any title, new or old, without leaving your home.

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Edited by author 11-02-2005 10:55 AM
To browse: shifting meaning in shifty times

The second hand book browser, panty sniffer and all out geek is a dying breed, folks. Or at least a dying public breed. They can be found, by the stealthy geek-watcher, transfixed to the screen, clicker hand tensed.

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Is being online still a fad for you people, or is it that you just never grow tired talking shit. Gees, sorry, I thought this was a safe injection site.

Edited by author 11-10-2005 11:12 AM
Buying and selling used just got easier

Abebooks buys Bookfinder. Besides the obvious argument that there won't be anymore storefronts, no more eureka moments amongst the dusty shelves and charming chaos, I love Abe.

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Former bookseller for Alibris. Has anyone had past/present troubles with Alibris continuing to charge their credit card for monthly service fees once the seller relationship was dissolved?

Have you tried using SmartBookFinder.com? They are a great website for finding discount books. They are a book price search engine. They aggregate the prices from the major on-line bookstores for you and tell you where the lowest price is. I like that because it saves me a lot of time because I do not have to go each bookstore, I can just go to SmartBookFinder.com.