Used And Rare P Paperback – April 15, 1998

"Used and Rare" talked about the journey of a couple who learnt about book collection.To my surprise, this is a very interesting read; I finished the book in one sitting. The style of the book is very gentle and smooth. It's in no way a detail books on how to be a book collector.The book concentrates more on the process of how one may become attracted to book collecting. It gives us some interesting thinking about the questions "Why collecting book? Why pay couple hundred dollar for something you can just get for couple bucks? Isn't the content of the book is the most important thing?" To some newcomer like me, those are questions I always ask. The Goldstone has a great way to give some answer to you. They do not try to convince you to become a book collector, they show you why&what make them want to collect book.However, in the book, I am also introduced to some new terms( for a beginner) about collecting books, the condition..etc.. They also give recommendation of good books. The thing I like about the book is that when they mention a name of the book or an author, they don't assume the reader already know them, so there always at least 1-2 paragraphs explaining or introducing you to the term they talked about.It's overall, a very exciting adventure itself.One warning about the cover of the book : partially the reason I bought the book because I think the cover of the book look good (it looks like it's leather bounded and little bit old, the type you want to see on your bookshelf.) However, it turns out everything you see is a just a PICTURE on the book's dust cover.

I opened this book and that was the end of me untill I turned the last page. If you love books and your not wealthy but you have pie in the sky dreams about having your own library someday...READ THIS. You can live the folly and reality through this book. You will go on adventures through the halls of bookstores that you have to buz the door to get in and the books sell with the decimal point a bit far to the right for normal people. You will stumble with the authors through the little bookstores with wobbly wood floors and books stacked everywhere. You will dig through the piles of books to uncover some wonderful finds. If you have a bookshelf in your home and for some reason you get joy out just seeing your books, knowing they are there, just touching them and seeing your own identity in what your choose to buy - Get this book. You'll learn how complicated and intriguing book collecting can be. You'll get in on those autions that have buried treasures of books. And maybe, if your lucky, you'll take away a lesson of your own. I learned that like the authors I would like to own hard cover books of the classics and the books I love but in the end I will collect the books I love for what they contain. I can't afford to own all first editions but I can afford to own and experience the stories, the visions and the intriques the writers of books provide. I love my books just as much even if they are not all HC first editions and worth thousands of dollars.

I just finished this book and I can't decide whether it was worth the time or not. Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone tell stories about their trips to rare book stores and auctions. They present some really interesting information about rare books they saw, tips about books from dealers, and the intricacies of what makes books rare. Unfortunately, most of this information is rather terse and quite amateur. The Goldstones seemed to have stumbled into the rare book world and they never manage to advance too far within it.They drive to a bookstore, talk to its owner, look at books they can't afford and almost never buy. They always seem to be broke or unwilling to shell out the dough required to build a valuable library. For them, almost anything over $80-$100 is out of the question. I'm sure they have ticked off a few dealers in their day. They even talk about one dealer who never allowed them to view her books, despite several different attempts to come to the store at a good time for browsing. The dealer must have spotted them the instant they walked through the door. Various excuses were given as to why they couldn't look at the collection including a lunch break that was never taken and an "appointment downtown." After the Goldstones were turned away, they noticed the dealer leaning back at her desk, taking a personal phone call. Obviously, they were being blown off. If you were hoping to read a story written by someone who invested $100,000 in rare books, this is really not it. They buy a couple of $700 books, but mainly stick to the $10 bin.There are many amusing anecdotes in the book and it is really very well written; it became hard to put down by the halfway point. This may not be the case for everyone. You have to really be interested in books to enjoy this. I felt like I learned a little about the rare book world, and I feel this is a good introduction to the subject, but I would by no means say that this is an in-depth study of the trade. Jargon is well defined and the plot is very approchable, but I felt it was a little lacking in content. There was a lot of interesting information about Dickens books, some talk about bindings and trade information, but it just wasn't deep enough.It was a good book, but not great.

This is the story of a wife and her husband who on a bet over who could find a good copy of War and Peace for less than $25.00 ended up on a wild ride into the land of books. In case you are wondering the wife won with a fabulous copy with illustrations, maps, and notes.For a brief time, the authors fell into what I call the trap of buying first editions. However, by the end, they were back to the reasonable readers' credo of finding a good copy of a book for a realistic price. After all isn't the goal to read books, not to put them behind glass and look at them?