The Frustration of Being a Book Collector
March 22nd 2011 21:00
Several days after buying one of my Jane Burton books, I discovered another copy – complete with shrink wrap – at the same bookstore I bought mine from. Since Dymocks has a no-questions-asked refund/exchange policy, I decided to swap my non-shrink wrapped one for the other one. After all, I reasoned, mine had bumps and scratches on the cover due to people placing it roughly on the shelf. Also, some of the pages had grey streaks on them. That said, it isn’t easy to handle a two and a half kilo book so I can hardly blame them for the wear and tear but if I can swap it for a copy in better condition, why not?
I got someone from the information desk to hold it for me. I later returned to do the swap. I then sat down outside with the second copy, removed the shrink wrap and proceeded to inspect the book. Yes, the dust jacket was in pristine condition. But when I took it off, I almost gasped: the cover had a grey streak all along the side of it. And inside, some of the pages still had grey streaks on them. I now had to decide whether to keep this copy or to return and swap it back for the original one. I phoned fellow book collector Fred to get his opinion.
After telling him what happened, Fred groaned. “I know what you mean. I’ve been in bookstores where I’ve spent half an hour inspecting every copy for marks only to discover they all have marks and then choosing which one has the least amount of defects. Maybe you will have to do the same thing. Or you can swap the second one back for the first one and then back again. But you can’t keep doing this forever without getting some funny looks. Or, buy both. That’s what I once did.”
At seventy dollars a copy, I was not in a mad rush to take up his final suggestion.
In the end, I decided to keep the current volume since it had no marks on the cover. I could always go back and inspect the original and decide what to do from there. That said, it’s been a week now and the original one is not on the shelf. I had popped in three times and couldn’t find it. At first I thought it simply hadn’t been placed back on the shelf but maybe someone has bought it. Or maybe, it’s been sent back to the publisher. In any case, it saves me from trying out any of Fred’s suggestions.
“People just don’t respect books,” grumbled Fred. “They shove them back on the shelves without a second thought. It never occurs to them that someone out there wants to buy them and they want them in pristine condition. Even when you order online there’s no guarantee they will arrive in pristine condition either.”
It’s so wonderful to have a friend who thinks exactly like me.
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