Angus & Robertson, the chain bookseller, sets traps for unwary bookaholics like me. Their green-spot specials are deadly. I went out on a whim for a few Xmas presents, and I got what I aimed to buy. But in the process of mooching around the shop I also picked up five books with the green spot (indicating half price) on their spines.
For Antony, who has invited me over for lunch on Xmas Day, I purchased Inside Little Britain, because we used to laugh about it in the mornings when we went to get coffee before work. For Glenn, his partner, I always have some trouble buying presents. He used to be a cook, so I got Bittersweet: The Story of Sugar.
For Ant's mother and father, and his brother and sister-in-law, who will also all be there on Monday, I bought long pink packets of Italian nougat.
The green-spot specials are:
Les Murray by Steven Matthews (2001), a collection of critical essays
The Rachel Papers by Martin Amis (1973)
Rock Springs by Richard Ford (1988), a collection of short stories
Electric Light by Seamus Heaney (2001), a book of poems
Totem by Luke Davies (2004), more poetry
And because I'm fascinated by her story I also purchased a Xmas present for myself: Girl in the Cellar: The Natascha Kampusch Story by Allan Hall and Michael Leidig.
4 comments:
I hope your A&R's is better than mine (Penrith).
I went in last week to buy Richard Ford's The Lay of the Land and had terrible trouble finding it: they don't keep their books in alphabetical order, or any order for that matter except a random one.
I prefer Dymock's because of their Booklovers point scheme and I also can post-free books from their internet site.
Mine's Burwood. Their computer said they had one copy of Robert Hughes' new memoir but they couldn't find it. Poor things. They're off their feet at the moment. last night Westfield Burwood was open until 10.00pm.
A&R's computer at Penrith showed one copy of The Lay of the Land in stock and it took them twenty minutes to find it.
I sometimes wonder if the staff in chain bookstores actually ever read books (my apologies to bookstore staff if this doesn't apply to you but many of your peers are wanting in the book knowledge department).
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