We recently told the story of our mother “discarding” a book scribbled in by that scamp Ray Bradbury (yes, we probably do mention it a lot; if she chooses to go the headstone route upon her demise, her loving children will likely have a summary of the sad episode engraved upon it). In a way, Penguin is doing much the same thing. Except of course, they are not immediately realizing their error and snatching the book back for safekeeping (because a Bradbury autograph obscured by the word “discard”…well, you get our point). In these cash-strapped times, we would expect the publisher to look at rare books as a business opportunity. Or maybe the whole plot is much more subtle than we realize: someone, probably a smart, savvy young up-and-comer said, “Hey, I know. Let’s do this in a way that allows the common folk to get their hands on something they normally couldn’t.” You have to imagine that with a British accent to really get it.
Penguin packs off rare books… at half price!
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