# I hate this one damn book. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 14, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799 "2015-08-14T00:40:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/1 "2015-08-14T00:40:04Z")
It’s title is **Babel-17**. The author is Delany. I’ve never read it. But I hate it. Time after time, somebody sees my listing for this title on Amazon. And, confidently, I go to my storage boxes. My sorted & organized storage boxes. And it’s not there. So, I am forced to cancel the freaking order. And it damages my Seller Rating. 2 weeks later, looking for something else, I will find it. And then, I will re-file it. And, it will vanish. _Tonight was the third time._ I went through all the boxes. Removing all the items. Handling each item. _Hundreds_ of items. **And I can’'t find it.** GODDDAMMIT!!! WHEN I FIND IT, I WILL BURN THAT FUCKER!!! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/2 "2015-08-14T00:50:14Z")
…and then you’ll offer to sell the ashes on Amazon, and when somebody tries to order them, you won’t – well, you get the idea. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/3 "2015-08-14T01:10:09Z")
Delany ain’t that great anyway… I have a friend who refuses to read anything by John Varley, because Varley wrote “Titan” and that sounds like “Triton” which Delany wrote…and my friend hates Delany that damn badly! ---
**Author:** ![splatterpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@splatterpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/splatterpunk)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/4 "2015-08-14T01:31:20Z")
[1970s TV Movie Freudian Psychologist] Of course you keep “losing” it. You haven’t read it. But your subconscious is telling you that you MUST read it, which is why you can’t sell it. But you can’t read it, because something depicted on the cover reminds you of your mother, doesn’t it, **Bosda**? Read the book; we’ll discuss your reaction to it next week. Our time is up. [/1970s TV Movie Freudian Psychologist] ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/5 "2015-08-14T01:55:48Z")
Uh, **Bosda**? Why not just remove the title from your listings until you find it? (Is this the same Delany who wrote “Hoag”?) ---
**Author:** ![splatterpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@splatterpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/splatterpunk)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/6 "2015-08-14T02:02:23Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Uh, **Bosda**? Why not just remove the title from your listings until you find it? He’s done this, multiple times. He finds it, lists it, and when he gets a buyer he can’t find it again. Lather, rinse, repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/7 "2015-08-14T02:46:12Z")
What you need to do is put this whole story up there, how the book keeps mysteriously disappearing. When somebody buys it, send an empty box. Lather, rinse, repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/8 "2015-08-14T03:04:26Z")
> [@splatterpunk](#): > > He’s done this, multiple times. He finds it, lists it, and when he gets a buyer he can’t find it again. Lather, rinse, repeat. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/9 "2015-08-14T03:15:55Z")
There must be a word for this, or if not someone should make one up. It’s like your car making some kind of noise, except it won’t do it when you bring it into the shop. Then you drive home and it happens again. Or what happens when I can’t find one of my tools, I’ll have to go get another glass cutter and when I come home to put the new one away I find the old one. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/10 "2015-08-14T03:56:58Z")
There’s a Schroedinger’s Cat joke in here somewhere, but I can’t think of what it is. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/11 "2015-08-14T04:02:54Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > There’s a Schroedinger’s Cat joke in here somewhere, but I can’t think of what it is. He’s singing, “You spin me right round, baby, right round.” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/12 "2015-08-14T04:17:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > There must be a word for this, or if not someone should make one up. It’s like your car making some kind of noise, except it won’t do it when you bring it into the shop. Then you drive home and it happens again. Or what happens when I can’t find one of my tools, I’ll have to go get another glass cutter and when I come home to put the new one away I find the old one. Law of Irony? It always rains just after you’ve washed your car – except it doesn’t work if you are trying to make it rain. The gods are not so easily fooled. Some call it the Law of Perversity. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/13 "2015-08-14T04:50:24Z")
Well, it appears that the main theme of the book is [that perceptions are altered by language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel-17). So perhaps it can only be found by people who have read it and thus had their perceptions altered by its language? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/14 "2015-08-14T14:34:47Z")
Dryer: Two socks enter, one sock leaves. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/15 "2015-08-14T14:41:05Z")
Just send a post-it-note with this on it [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel-17](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babel-17). ---
**Author:** ![OffByOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/45deac/32.png) [@OffByOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OffByOne)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/16 "2015-08-14T16:10:06Z")
fnord ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/17 "2015-08-14T17:10:16Z")
Wait, Chip Delany? For some reason, I got the idea that he was dead, and then recently I was reading a conversation between him and another writer, and was surprised he was alive. I started to say that he’s become a poltergeist haunting you, and then I remembered that he might not be dead. So, I don’t know, maybe I was just thinking of someone else & got confused, or maybe Delany is like a Schroedinger’s Cat. Are there any other Chip Delany stories that have that strange quality? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/18 "2015-08-14T17:55:23Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Uh, **Bosda**? Why not just remove the title from your listings until you find it? > > (Is this the same Delany who wrote “Hoag”?) Not guilty. It was Robert Heinlein. Fair to remark that it was published in 1942, before science fiction had evolved out of the swamp. > **[The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unpleasant_Profession_of_Jonathan_Hoag)** > > The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag is a science fantasy novella by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. It was originally published in the October 1942 issue of Unknown Worlds magazine under the pseudonym of "John Riverside". The novella also lends its title to a collection of Heinlein's short stories published in 1959. > Jonathan Hoag, a lover of art and fine dining living in Chicago, realizes that he has no memory of his daytime activities when asked, at an evening dinner, what he does fo... ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/19 "2015-08-14T18:26:34Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Not guilty. It was Robert Heinlein. Fair to remark that it was published in 1942, before science fiction had evolved out of the swamp. > > [The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unpleasant_Profession_of_Jonathan_Hoag) Not sure if this response is a joke or not, but \*\*Guin \*\*meant the pornographic novel _Hogg_, which is indeed by Samuel R. Delany. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799/20 "2015-08-14T19:46:45Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > It’s title is **Babel-17**. > > \*\*And I can’'t find it! Your thinking is off. Instead of thinking where it is, think about where you would put it. These are apparently two different places. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-this-one-damn-book/727799.md?page=2)