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Re: RARA-AVIS: The Glass Key
H. Curtiss Leung wrote:
>
> Doug Greene (or is it James Mountain?) writes:
>
> >Oh stop, I'm getting all weepy. I want a Lear jet, and yet poor
> >little Bookseller me can't afford one. And mean old rich guy can.
> >It's so unfair.
> >You have to answer to the demands of faculty, students and the
> >general public? It must be really frustrating for you. Making a
> >liveing from bookselling can be really frustrating too. Your
> >job doesn't hinge on whether or not you can pick up a copy of The
> >Glass Key. You still get paid, you just suffer in self pity .
> >You're not spending YOUR OWN MONEY on these books either.
> >Stop whining. If I have a copy of the Glass Key, it means I've paid
> >for it with my own money, and now I've got to find a price that
> >will pay rent, put food on the table etc. I'd love for your Library
> >to have first in jacket of all the books you want, but really,
> >nothing really changes if you don't. No one starves, no one struggles
> >to find rent.
>
> So who's forcing you to be a bookseller? James Stephenson simply
> stated his _responsibilities_ as an academic librarian to the people he
> _serves_; you're the one bringing up rent and food on the table -- and that
> makes _you_ the one who's whining.
>
> I'm not a collector, but if I'm ever in the market for rare or first
> edition books, I'll make sure to remember you -- as someone not to buy from.
Dear Curtiss,
I've dealt with James Mountain. He's a gentleman and a scholar. And
he's got a stock of really tasty hardboiled books.
By your own admission you're neither a collector nor a seller, so I'm
sure you'd agree there's a lot about that business you're unfamiliar
with. While everyone is entitled to an opinion, informed ones are
invariably more valid that naive ones. (Which is a polite way of saying
that if you're put off by a display of <attitude> by an out-of-print
bookseller, I hope you'll be happy with what you can find at Barnes &
Noble.)
Cordially,
Jerry Silverman
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