Okay, I got mine today. It'll be a while before I read it, because I have double-promised myself that I'm going to finish some others first.

I must say, I'm mildly disappointed with HarperCollins/William Morrow. I've ordered the hardcover copies of Ray's last four collections, and two of them arrived with serrated (not properly guillotined)outer page edges. How common is this? Anyone else have this problem with mail order books? I say mail order, because in a store, you can obviously check that you have a nice copy.

quote:

Originally posted by douglasSP:
...How common is this? Anyone else have this problem with mail order books? ...

I don't know how common it is, but I DO know that it seems to be exclusive to US publishers. I have NEVER seen a British hardcover that is unfinished in this way, but I have many US hardcovers that are let down by scruffy page edges!

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:

quote:

Originally posted by douglasSP:
...How common is this? Anyone else have this problem with mail order books? ...

I don't know how common it is, but I DO know that it seems to be exclusive to US publishers. I have NEVER seen a British hardcover that is unfinished in this way, but I have many US hardcovers that are let down by scruffy page edges!

In the days when knights wore suits of armour a scruffy page was a sign of a high quality book. Today, this is not the case, just a style.

Some prefer the scruffy eded, as it looks and feels less manufactured. I prefer the smooth edge, as I can flip through to get to a page I want. But, there are people who prefer the look and feel of the scruffy, non-manufactured edges.

I didn't much like the cover until I saw your picture of Ray holding it. Is there a chance you can repost that in jpeg? My system won't let me copy bitmap, but it gladly takes jpegs.

Thanks for posting the picture. I feel much better about the cover.

Does England have the book now? I imagine, with Amazon, national boundaries are not that critical any more in getting books. I just pre-order them on Amazon and wait till they ship it.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Dark:
Is there a chance you can repost that in jpeg?
Does England have the book now? I imagine, with Amazon, national boundaries are not that critical any more in getting books. I just pre-order them on Amazon and wait till they ship it.

I originally posted the image as a jpg. I'll email it to you this evening. OK?

quote:

Originally posted by douglasSP:
Okay, I got mine today. It'll be a while before I read it, because I have double-promised myself that I'm going to finish some others first.

I must say, I'm mildly disappointed with HarperCollins/William Morrow. I've ordered the hardcover copies of Ray's last four collections, and two of them arrived with serrated (not properly guillotined)outer page edges. How common is this? Anyone else have this problem with mail order books? I say mail order, because in a store, you can obviously check that you have a nice copy.

Actually, the more prized editions had the uncut edges in the past. They are also referred to as deckled-edge editions. If you want to go back a bit further, the pages came 'deckled' but uncut. For instance, I used to have a 19th century edition of Charles Dickens that you had to use a knife to open the pages. This particular edition never had been opened...and thus never read.

quote:

Originally posted by Nard Kordell:
This particular edition never had been opened...and thus never read.

And that is a sadness. I'm a collector, but I'm much more a reader!

Books are meant to be read just as wine is meant to be drunk.

I, too, had a whole collection of about 18 volumes with uncut pages, also unread. Unfortunately I was impecunious and had to part with them for a few farthings. I wish that I still had them. Alas!

Actually, Phil, my 1980 copy of The Stories of Ray Bradbury also has uncut outer page edges, and that's a Grafton. I bought this in a bookstore here in Cape Town - it was the only copy they had, and in fact I never saw it in any bookstore again, so there was no way I wasn't going to buy it, despite the minor blemish.

Nard, you're right, of course, but I'm not talking about collector's items.

I have a suspicion that your Grafton edition is really a re-badged US edition. (I have an uncut-edges SORB, and it's a US one.)

Mr Dark, I get most of my books from Amazon (or The Book Depository), so I genuinely haven't a clue when books are officially available in the UK. I know people often curse about how the likes of Amazon have seen off smaller, local bookstores, but the globalisation of the book market is (IMHO) one of the wonders of our age. The lengths we used to have to go to to get a book from another territory... and now it's so easy.

quote:

Originally posted by philnic:
I get most of my books from Amazon.

I get more than a few of mine from amazon.co.uk.

Impecunious is a good word, but a bad thing.

Cool comments. Thanks, all! I'm a fan of Amazon, too. Some businesses go obsolete because they don't meet our needs. There are a lot of times my local stores can't get me books I need. For example, I wanted The Bradbury Companion and couldn't get it any where. I finally got it from Amazon for $125.00.

JKT: That would be fantastic!!!! Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by Mr. Dark:
JKT: That would be fantastic!!!! Thanks!

It should be in your IN-Box by now.