The Afterlife of Books

[Collateral Damage]

Might it be Tides of Fortune - Uncharted Waters by Steven Becker?

It certainly looks like the cover, but this was published in 2019. Also, this one is part of a series, I don't believe the other was.

I thank you for the info though, I will likely download the series to my kindle for enjoyment.

[Standing Wolf]

It's become more difficult to find real jewels in the used book stores--but I still try.

Now, I include occasional stops at thrift stores--small, locally owned are best--and I'll check out estate auctions. But, like you, I've restorted to eBay at times.

I've had some success of late in finding just the book I happened to be looking for in a thrift shop for just a few dollars. A few months ago I'd been doing some reading online about Britain's General Gordon of Khartoum (either right before or right after watching Khartoum, with Charlton Heston) and I was thinking about going the eBay route to obtain a good biography of the man. Shortly after that I found just such a book at Goodwill for a couple of dollars, and a very nice copy at that. The same thing happened after I watched a documentary about the life and career of Charlie Chaplin; within a couple of weeks I found a nice copy of the First Edition of his weighty autobiography in the same place.

I've found signed copies of books by everyone from Sonny Barger to Charlton Heston to two of the Mercury Astronauts (Carpenter and Cooper) in thrift shops. I once found an autographed Bible (a New Testament from the '30s, signed by the translator, Edgar J. Goodspeed), though that one was in a second-hand bookshop in the Bay area, not a thrift shop; it still only cost me $6.

[FindersKeepers]

I've had some success of late in finding just the book I happened to be looking for in a thrift shop for just a few dollars. A few months ago I'd been doing some reading online about Britain's General Gordon of Khartoum (either right before or right after watching Khartoum, with Charlton Heston) and I was thinking about going the eBay route to obtain a good biography of the man. Shortly after that I found just such a book at Goodwill for a couple of dollars, and a very nice copy at that. The same thing happened after I watched a documentary about the life and career of Charlie Chaplin; within a couple of weeks I found a nice copy of the First Edition of his weighty autobiography in the same place.

I've found signed copies of books by everyone from Sonny Barger to Charlton Heston to two of the Mercury Astronauts (Carpenter and Cooper) in thrift shops. I once found an autographed Bible (a New Testament from the '30s, signed by the translator, Edgar J. Goodspeed), though that one was in a second-hand bookshop in the Bay area, not a thrift shop; it still only cost me $6.

Isn't that the oddest--but nicest--thing? That's happened to me before but not as often. Maybe the brain is just more in-tune with the specific subject and we notice it quicker.

Similar story but not a book--I'd been telling my niece how she should invest a little at a time in All-Clad cookware because it is top of the line if she wants to do serious cooking. We stopped at a little thrift store in Hillsboro, KS and and I found a few magazines. Then I joined my niece who was looking at the housewares and there it was -- a shiny All Clad dutch oven with the lid taped to the top. The sticker read $2.95. I handed it to her and told her that could be the start of her collection. She was so happy! I think she has a larger set now, but we still talk about the "great find" at the little thrift shop.

It's so fun when it happens!

[RichardMZhlubb]

Only tangentially related to the subject of this thread, I recently started rereading the hardcover copy of a novel I read years ago in paperback. I bought the hardcover copy at a used bookstore around 20 years or so ago. I found multiple Connecticut lottery tickets from the early 90’s inside the book. I keep meaning to check to see if they were winners that the original owner missed out on.

[jigglepete]

When I saw the thread title, I honestly thought it was about the person (loon) that has recently been collecting, re-covering, and removing the copyright pages of hundreds of J.K. Rowling books and reselling them with her removed, because she broke the unwritten law of somebodies sensibility (which is senseless IMO)...

[FindersKeepers]

Only tangentially related to the subject of this thread, I recently started rereading the hardcover copy of a novel I read years ago in paperback. I bought the hardcover copy at a used bookstore around 20 years or so ago. I found multiple Connecticut lottery tickets from the early 90’s inside the book. I keep meaning to check to see if they were winners that the original owner missed out on.

LOL, that's kind of fun!

[Standing Wolf]

When I saw the thread title, I honestly thought it was about the person (loon) that has recently been collecting, re-covering, and removing the copyright pages of hundreds of J.K. Rowling books and reselling them with her removed, because she broke the unwritten law of somebodies sensibility (which is senseless IMO)...

Wow, that's dedication. I'm reminded of a Rodney Dangerfield line from the movie Back to School, talking about Sam Kinison's character after he'd just gone on a spun-out rant about Vietnam: "He really seems to care. About what I have no idea".

I'm fascinated by the novel 'Huckleberry Finn', and I collect different editions, as well as reading and collecting some of the unauthorized sequels by writers like Robert Coover and Jon Clinch. But I saw something the other day that I had no idea existed, but I guess I should have guessed it did: a "sanitized" version of Twain's masterpiece, with the "N" word left out. (I think they substituted the word "slave", regardless of whether the person so designated actually was one.) I didn't buy that one.

[Omar]

But I saw something the other day that I had no idea existed, but I guess I should have guessed it did: a "sanitized" version of Twain's masterpiece, with the "N" word left out.

Didn't anyone tell Twain that no white person should ever say that word, no matter what the context?