# Got any books you just can't find? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910 "2010-04-04T14:51:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/21 "2010-04-07T06:52:36Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > The Occult and the Third Reich by Jean-Michel Angebert I think I have a copy of this somewhere. If I find it, it’s yours. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/22 "2010-04-07T07:04:16Z")
A few. All of which have disappeared from any library list. Birchism Was My Business by Gerald Schomp Impolite Interviews by Paul Krassner Medical Mafia by Guy something Soul Hustlers by Rene Noorbergen. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/23 "2010-04-07T14:51:44Z")
> [@wombatinspats](#): > > I don’t doubt your Ellison-qualifications but thanks for getting into them anyway. 😛 I’d never heard of it, Googled it, found some dubious claim that he still wants to publish it, and mentioned it. I thought it was equivalent to hope. The end! By normal standards, that’s very faint hope. By Ellison standards, it takes a quantum leap to the next level. That still make it very faint hope, however. God knows how many of the authors have gotten their first-publication rights back at this point. > [@JohnT](#): > > The Dune Encyclopedia > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I loaned out the Dune Encyclopedia back in high school and never got it back. _looks at his bookshelf_ How much is it worth to you? Just kidding! I do have one but I’m not interested in letting it out of my possession…it’s already a replacement copy. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/24 "2010-04-07T15:59:59Z")
☹ tease. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/25 "2010-04-07T16:20:30Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > ☹ tease. ☹ [It’s not exactly Shakespeare’s First Folio or anything…](http://www.amazon.com/Dune-Encyclopedia-Authorized-Masterpiece-Imagination/dp/0425068137) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/26 "2010-04-07T16:44:56Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Back in the late 60s I had a book called \*See the Merino Standing There with His Long Hair. \*It apparently was originated by the \*Harvard Lampoon. \*I’m finding reference to it via Google, but no way to find the book itself. The book is _The World’s Largest Cheese: an indulgence_, a collection of humor pieces by Chrisopher Cerf. “See the Merino…” is one piece in the book. It was originally in the _Harvard Lampoon_ but the book is a general collection of Cerf’s work up to that time. It’s a great book and not terribly expensive. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/27 "2010-04-07T16:51:43Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Thanks for the links! I don’t use eBay (I know entirely too many people who’ve had problems there) but I’ll check abebooks out… If that doesn’t work out, make an offer on my copy. Perfect condition. I have it as a reference book but can part with it easily enough for a friend. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/28 "2010-04-07T21:10:46Z")
Mock me for my pedestrianism, but Kirith Kirin by Jim Grimsley. There’s currently a copy going for $37 on abebooks, which is very tempting, but I am still wary about paying that much for a book by an author I’ve never read. I’ve paid good money for later books from a series that are out of print, but never blindly. But seeing as that’s the cheapest I’ve seen it in…oh…years, and the closest library that has it isn’t even in this province, I might just take the chance! ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/29 "2010-04-07T21:51:43Z")
The best website for find used out-of-print books for sale (provided the book is in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, or Dutch) is [www.bookfinder.com](http://www.bookfinder.com) I’ve found all kinds of books there that I had almost given up on finding. The best website to find a library near you that has a hard-to-find book is [www.worldcat.org](http://www.worldcat.org) Inter-library loan is your friend. I can’t think of any books I can’t find now at any price, except a couple whose titles and authors I can’t remember. That makes searching hard. 1. a book that reproduces all known medieval documents about the Norse voyages to Greenland and Vinland in the original languages (Old Norse, Latin, German and maybe others) together with translations in modern Danish, possibly in 2 volumes. When I looked years ago the cheapest copy was over $50, too expensive for me then, but a price I would gladly pay today if only I could remember the title. 2. a book that is supposed to be similar to Mackay’s _Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds_. Mackay’s is often said to be the first book in English that takes a skeptical look at various strange beliefs (supernatural or otherwise), but years ago I came across a reference to a title that was published earlier. I looked and couldn’t find it at any price. Now of course I don’t remember the author or title. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/30 "2010-04-07T22:33:39Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The book is _The World’s Largest Cheese: an indulgence_, a collection of humor pieces by Chrisopher Cerf. “See the Merino…” is one piece in the book. It was originally in the _Harvard Lampoon_ but the book is a general collection of Cerf’s work up to that time. > > It’s a great book and not terribly expensive. Thanks for this. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/31 "2010-04-07T23:02:18Z")
Here’s one with a happy ending: I was looking for a copy of _The Stress of Her Regard_, by Tim Powers, for YEARS, but it had been out of print since the early '90s. I never saw it in used book stores. Once it became easy to find secondhand books online I was able to track down several copies, but all were very expensive – sometimes upwards of $100 for a paperback! For quite some time I believe _The Stress of Her Regard_ was the _only_ Powers novel not in print, but in 2008 a [new edition](http://www.amazon.com/Stress-Her-Regard-Tim-Powers/dp/1892391791/) finally came out. Now anyone can own their own copy for $10-15. They managed to come up with a less cheesy looking cover too, although I note that the mountain shown is obviously the Matterhorn while it is actually the Jungfrau that is significant in the book. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2010, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/32 "2010-04-07T23:34:39Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > 1. a book that reproduces all known medieval documents about the Norse voyages to Greenland and Vinland in the original languages (Old Norse, Latin, German and maybe others) together with translations in modern Danish, possibly in 2 volumes. When I looked years ago the cheapest copy was over $50, too expensive for me then, but a price I would gladly pay today if only I could remember the title. > > 2. a book that is supposed to be similar to Mackay’s _Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds_. Mackay’s is often said to be the first book in English that takes a skeptical look at various strange beliefs (supernatural or otherwise), but years ago I came across a reference to a title that was published earlier. I looked and couldn’t find it at any price. Now of course I don’t remember the author or title. 1. Is it Carl Christian Rafn’s _Antiquitates Americanæ_? 2. I couldn’t find anything like this except for the “Report of the Commissioners Charged by the King to Examine Animal Magnetism”, or the “Franklin Report”, which doesn’t really seem similar enough to your description, but possible… Also: the worldcat link brought up a few libraries in the states that had a copy of the book I was looking for, but I want one (and the bookfinder link didn’t bring up anything). Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![cuberdon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@cuberdon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuberdon)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/33 "2010-04-08T02:24:04Z")
Wombat, are you in Tasmania? The UTAS library site has a copy of the English translation by Baldwin. It is shown as currently on the shelf in the Morris Miller Library, call number PA 4013 .H35 A23 1983. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/34 "2010-04-08T03:21:45Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > If that doesn’t work out, make an offer on my copy. Perfect condition. I have it as a reference book but can part with it easily enough for a friend. I’ll keep that in mind… It’s on my “To Get At Some Point” list, but it’s not an urgent acquisition. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wombatinspats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@wombatinspats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombatinspats)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/35 "2010-04-08T20:36:51Z")
> [@LouiseE](#): > > Wombat, are you in Tasmania? The UTAS library site has a copy of the English translation by Baldwin. > > It is shown as currently on the shelf in the Morris Miller Library, call number PA 4013 .H35 A23 1983. Thanks Louise! I’ve been avoiding uni, so I didn’t even think of that…but I’m denying myself a wealth of good stuff by not keeping up with the library, at least. I should brave it. ---
**Author:** ![wombatinspats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@wombatinspats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombatinspats)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/36 "2010-04-08T20:50:07Z")
> [@BigBertha](#): > > A few. All of which have disappeared from any library list. > Birchism Was My Business by Gerald Schomp > Impolite Interviews by Paul Krassner > Medical Mafia by Guy something > Soul Hustlers by Rene Noorbergen. OK, just for kicks, I looked them up. (I get my kicks really cheaply, apparently.) > **[Birchism Was My Business - AbeBooks](https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?fromanz=fromanz&sortby=93&sts=t&tn=Birchism%2BWas%2BMy%2BBusiness&x=0&y=0)** > > Birchism Was My Business by Schomp, Gerald and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. > **[Impolite Interviews - AbeBooks](https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?fromanz=fromanz&sortby=93&sts=t&tn=impolite%2Binterviews&x=0&y=0)** > > Impolite Interviews by Krassner, Paul and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. The third one - Guylaine Lanctot? [http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?fromanz=fromanz&sortby=93&sts=t&tn=medical+mafia&x=0&y=0](http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?fromanz=fromanz&sortby=93&sts=t&tn=medical+mafia&x=0&y=0) > **[Soul Hustlers - AbeBooks](https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=soul%2Bhustlers&x=0&y=0)** > > Soul Hustlers by Noorbergen, Rene' and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/37 "2010-04-09T16:36:39Z")
I spent an inordinate amount of time, a year or so back, searching for a book to identify feathers. I only ever found one and it was prohibitively expensive and came from England. Sorry, I can’t even remember the name now. ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/38 "2010-04-09T17:47:27Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I spent an inordinate amount of time, a year or so back, searching for a book to identify feathers. > > I only ever found one and it was prohibitively expensive and came from England. > > Sorry, I can’t even remember the name now. Here are two I could find: my guess is that you found the book in the second link, but the first one also has information. Bird Tracks & Sign : A Guide to North American Species > **[Bird Tracks & Sign: Elbroch, Mark, Marks, Eleanor, Boretos, Diane C.:...](https://www.amazon.com/Bird-Tracks-Sign-American-Species/dp/0811726967)** > > Buy Bird Tracks & Sign on Amazon.com ✓ FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders Feathers: Identification for Bird Conservation [http://www.alibris.com/booksearch.detail?invId=9442381112&siteID=hi3Lv4qpBig-agvRJwKVjx0HwjR4k3bquA](http://www.alibris.com/booksearch.detail?invId=9442381112&siteID=hi3Lv4qpBig-agvRJwKVjx0HwjR4k3bquA) ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/39 "2010-04-09T17:59:33Z")
> [@wombatinspats](#): > > I want _Philogelos_, the ancient Greek joke book, but I can’t find it anywhere! There are a couple of partial copies online, none in my state’s library system, and the only ones for sale I can find online are either not in English or about a billion dollars. > > To show you what I’m missing, here’s a joke from it (from the Greek.): > > #234. A man with bad breath asked his wife: “Madame, why do you hate me?” And she said in reply: “Because you love me.” > > See! It’s funny! And all ancient and stuff. > > Anyone else got an elusive book? Or DVD/CD etc.? Funny coincidence! I just scored a copy of the _Philogelos_ via my university’s ILL for a series of classroom lectures I’m writing, but if you would like your own copy, you could try [Amazon.co.uk](http://Amazon.co.uk) [Amazon.co.uk](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jests-Hierocles-Philagrius/dp/1437169554/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2T2WT4TL3Y99M&colid=3LOLI2WXAPEE5) (I read through this thread rather quickly, so if someone else has posted this link, my apologies.) It’s only 11GBP, so it’s reasonably priced. If you like those sorts of jokes and anecdotes, you might enjoy Philip Matyszak’s new book, _The Classical Compendium_ (which quotes from many authors including the _Philogelos_.) What’s difficult to get is the \*Athenaze \*Teacher’s Guide for Volume two (both editions, as I use the UK and US versions) – OUP pulled the book ages ago, so it ranges from $100 to $350 second hand; it retailed for about $14! Fortunately, colleagues have come to the rescue while I convince Oxford that I’m an instructor, and not a student looking for the answer book! It’s very difficult to pry a copy out of them without a professional reference, on letterhead, written by Homer himself. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910/40 "2010-04-09T18:33:29Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > For quite some time I believe _The Stress of Her Regard_ was the _only_ Powers novel not in print, but in 2008 a [new edition](http://www.amazon.com/Stress-Her-Regard-Tim-Powers/dp/1892391791/) finally came out. Now anyone can own their own copy for $10-15. Awe **SOME**! I’m gettin’ one. Thank you! (This will be the first new book I’ve bought in months.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/got-any-books-you-just-cant-find/534910.md?page=3)