Four Books

[Mark D. Roberts]

On Jan 21, 2008, at 11:35 AM, Alexander Jacoby wrote:

> I'm still surprised that the copies available on American Amazon at  
> under $40 are all from other sellers - ie, it seems you can't yet  
> buy the paperback directly through Amazon. This is perplexing.

Since I've had this book on order from Amazon since last May, I just  
called to get the scoop. They don't have it in stock, though some of  
their affiliates do (ah, the benefits of pre-ordering).

For those of you who want the book sooner, you might try one of those  
other shops, via Amazon.

> In the past, bookshops just had to stick Bordwell's Ozu in the  
> window or on the shelf in the hope that a passing Japanese movie  
> buff would happen along, and demand for that particular copy in  
> that particular place was inherently limited. But now every Ozu fan  
> in the world can be competing online for the few available second- 
> hand copies, the laws of supply and demand are causing the effects  
> we see.

Again, how many Ozu fans are going to pay US$150, let alone, US$378  
for a used copy of Bordwell's book? You know, a year or two back  
there were places selling it used for over US$600. Absurd. I wonder  
if there are book collectors who are speculating on "rare" books and  
driving the prices up.

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