# Deathbird Stories **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deathbird-stories/183409 "2003-06-21T13:49:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deathbird-stories/183409/1 "2003-06-21T13:49:13Z")
I first read Harlan Ellison’s _Deathbird Stories_ in high school. Great book. I read it again (more than once) in paperback. In the 1980s The Easton Press published a fine volume of this book. Black leather cover, hubbed spine, 22kt. gold embossing and gilt edges… and signed by Ellison. I wasn’t into collecting nice books at the time, so when I saw it I thought, “Hey, I’ll have to pick one of those up one of these days. But $45 is a bit much right now.” Naturally they became unavailable. I thought about the book in the past year or so, and did a search. Booksellers seemed to want $100 for it. I tried a couple of auctions on eBay. For one, I reloaded the page and my computer locked up. I missed the end of the bidding. Another time I bid, but the other bids topped $115 so I let it go. Then there were a couple of times I forgot that I had bid on a book and found I’d missed out when I got an e-mail notification from eBay. Finally I won an auction for $75. Woohoo! Johnny L.A. be happy reader! 🙂 So what is it about nice editions? I paid $42 for an Easton Press edition of Voltaire’s _Candide_, and the text is just the same as in the $4.95 paperback I have. If I already have _The Lord of the Rings_ and _The Hobbit_ and _The Silmarillion_, did I really _need_ to get the leather-and-gold hardbacks? There’s just something about a nice heavy book. There’s a tactile pleasure that comes with reading a book that has some craftsmanship, and it’s pleasant to smell the light fragrance of the dead animal skin. Are they over-priced? Sure. But they are nice to read. Anyway, I finally have _Deathbird Stories_ in an edition that will never become dog-eared and that looks good just sitting on a shelf. I can’t wait to finish it so I can start it again.