Of Books and Their Procurement
I have ever been impressed by the speed with which Amazon ships orders but, of late, I have been dealing with the Amazon private vendors - those who sell used, out of print and other hard to come by books.
I ordered a book yesterday around noon from a vendor in Florida. Today in the late morning I received a message from that vendor, relayed to me by Amazon. It seems the book was packed and shipped this very morning. That is less than twenty-four hours turnaround! I am amazed. In addition, this is a book I have wanted for several months but could not convince myself was worth the asking price. Until this week I had seen it posted only as a used paperback at a charge of about forty dollars. This seemed excessive. You may imagine my surprised delight to see a new hardcover copy available for ten dollars. Joy.
I have happily bought used books for much of my life. I actually worked in a used book store for a while, going on estate buying trips with the owner and learning a great deal about the business. Somehow, I got out of the habit and until recently have bought only new books; I do not even use the public library since I want to own the books I enjoy. Now I am rediscovering the pleasure of holding a book someone before me read and perhaps loved. With so many of the texts I want unavailable otherwise, this has become a real option again. How fortunate I am to have Amazon, so efficient and so trustworthy. Now I am eagerly awaiting two references for which I truly lust. I hunger for facts and it has become, suddenly, so easy to find them.
I ordered a book yesterday around noon from a vendor in Florida. Today in the late morning I received a message from that vendor, relayed to me by Amazon. It seems the book was packed and shipped this very morning. That is less than twenty-four hours turnaround! I am amazed. In addition, this is a book I have wanted for several months but could not convince myself was worth the asking price. Until this week I had seen it posted only as a used paperback at a charge of about forty dollars. This seemed excessive. You may imagine my surprised delight to see a new hardcover copy available for ten dollars. Joy.
I have happily bought used books for much of my life. I actually worked in a used book store for a while, going on estate buying trips with the owner and learning a great deal about the business. Somehow, I got out of the habit and until recently have bought only new books; I do not even use the public library since I want to own the books I enjoy. Now I am rediscovering the pleasure of holding a book someone before me read and perhaps loved. With so many of the texts I want unavailable otherwise, this has become a real option again. How fortunate I am to have Amazon, so efficient and so trustworthy. Now I am eagerly awaiting two references for which I truly lust. I hunger for facts and it has become, suddenly, so easy to find them.