I looked on amazon for a book about Junior Johnson (famous stock car driver) and found this. How can a 200 page paperback cost that much?
Must be a mistake.
Peace,
mangeorge
It seems to be out of print, so that price may just be what used copies are going for. It’s unusual but not tremendously so. (Personally, I’m frustrated about the prices on the Pogo books from Fantagraphics–they too are out of print and very expensive.)
I looked on ebay and there’s one there for sale at the same price. :dubious:
I’m curious about the man, but not that curious.
mangeorge I’ve sold a copy of an in-print paperback book for around that much - $100.
Of course the current edition lacks the errors that the first edition had, so it is pretty collectable. The long and the short of it is simply supply and demand - if there’s a high demand for a limited number of copies, there will be a lot of money chasing those limited copies.
Having said that, unless there’s some reason why that edition cannot, or will not, be re-released, once the price for after market copies gets that high, there’s a possibility some publisher will consider putting out a reprint.
If there’s a publishing house associated with NASCAR, or even a few, it might be worthwhile to send them a few emails, pointing out the apparant demand for this book, and asking whether they might be interested in bringing another edition to market.
That might just work. I’ll start by going to NASCAR directly.
If you’re going to do that - be sure to mention that NASCAR seems to have grown more in the popular conscience since 1999, when that book was first published, so it’s likely there are a number of library systems that would be more willing to buy a copy or two, that passed over the opportunity in 1999.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of it but there are these new things called libraries…damn I can’t keep up the snark. I haven’t been in a library for years because of this internet thingy. I do know (my mother is a retired librarian) that in New Jersey they have a system set up so if one library in the state has the book they can request it for an inter-library loan. It may take a little while but it will show up at your library. They might have something like that it your state. I’m sure the chances are slim that it would be in your particular library but it is possible at least one library in the state has one.
We have an excellent library here in Berkeley as one might expect. The problem is me.
I used to “devour” books, but I can no longer do that. It can take me several weeks to read a book. I sometimes sort of lose interest right in the middle of a chapter. If you’ve ever seen that commercial in which the woman is at a meeting and her mind wanders while others are talking, it’s like that. Like ADHD, but without the hyper-activity.
I’m looking into it.
(One of the symptoms is going way off an a tangent not really germane to the discussion at hand. 
)
Anyway, I’m curious about Junior Johnson’s life. Bad boy made good, it seems.
Maybe I’ll order me up some of his pork skins, which is a snack I really like anyway.
Then just keep it and pay the fine 
Tom Wolfe wrote a piece about him called The Last American Hero, which is in this collection Amazon link.
It’s years since I read it, but I loved it.
I think ebay book sellers use Amazon as a guide for determining a selling price- if Amazon’s only copy is going for 100 bucks, they aren’t going to start the bidding on their copy at 99 cents.
Oh I have no problem with someone trying to make a buck. They just aren’t going to make it off me. I want to read it, not collect it. I’ve ordered the Jeff Bridges movie fron netflix.
When I first saw the prices on amazon, I thought it was a mistake. :eek:
BTW; amazon has several listings for upwards of $200.