$1.07

Not really in a mood to talk books much. It's nice to see Rob Wiersema's kind works on the almost obligatory Tom Perrotta review, but it doesn't seem to matter as much that a good book it's own reward. What overrides everything is it's sticker price relative to the U.S dollar.
In the case of Perrotta's new one, it's a Canadian edition, so the point is perhaps less obvious, given that $32.95 is the only price on the jacket, but the U.S edition can be had cheaper south of the border.
The hardest part about the parity debacle, and publishers slow response to it, is that books are now lumped in with every other shitty little consumer product in the discussion which now goes simply "Canadian consumers are being ripped off", etc.
Prices are coming down and will continue to do so. In a couple months this mess will largely sort itself out. The damage to the book trade will be, I fear, a more lasting affair.

Posted by Dave