If you’ve ever wondered (and who hasn’t?) about the oddly high prices sometimes attached to out-of-print paperbacks on amazon.com, you’ll be interested in an item from yesterday’s New York Times book blog.
The piece was inspired by the $131.09 being asked for a used paperback copy of “Before the Storm” by Rick Perlstein. Perlstein is a journalist who does a fine job with contemporary history and so it’s not too surprising that the recent release of his new book “Nixonland” has re-ignited interest in “Before the Storm,” his examination of the Goldwater era.
But $131.09 for a dog-eared paperback? Apparently the book was taken out of print prematurely (or so says Perlstein himself, who joins in the discussion) but – even so. The Times piece discusses the counterintuitive way that the Internet has actually helped to stabilize “mid-level” prices for such hard-to-find books rather than to lower them.
If you’re a book buyer and reader, it’s worth taking a look. It may send you scurrying gratefully to your public library.
