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What's the most you've ever paid for a non-textbook book?

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Book Lover Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 06:44 PM
Original message
What's the most you've ever paid for a non-textbook book?
I posted this question in a thread in the Economy forum, so you know it'll get a ton of replies :-) What's the most you've ever paid for a non-college textbook book? From my perspective, the price of a college textbook makes sense (I work in the industry), and it's my feeling that people in general don't buy books at retail all that often anymore, hence the "sticker shock" when they do for their college texts...
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MonkeyFunk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 06:45 PM
Response to Original message
1. $350 for a first edition
of Truman Capote's "Other Voices, Other Rooms"
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Book Lover Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 06:48 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. First editions...
It feels very satisfying, IMO, to have one :-)
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MonkeyFunk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 06:57 PM
Response to Reply #2
6. I bought it years ago in New Orleans
I'm still furious with myself for NOT buying his pristine copy of "Breakfast at Tiffany's".
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pokerfan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 06:52 PM
Response to Original message
3. $120 for an out of print Backgammon book
but it paid for itself.

Not as much as my fancy antique backgammon set cost me:
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TheCentepedeShoes Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 06:56 PM
Response to Reply #3
5. Forty five dollars
for an Art Deco book. IIRC I got it at the Chinook in Colorado Springs. Looks right now the CPU is sitting on top of it.
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Book Lover Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:02 PM
Response to Reply #3
8. That set looks so nice!
I bet you get a lot of satisfaction using it to play.
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pokerfan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:40 PM
Response to Reply #8
18. I really love backgammon
Such a subtle and beautiful game. Perfect balance of skill and chance.

I love the concave bakelite checkers on this set. Makes it so easy to slide the pieces around.
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:39 PM
Response to Reply #3
17. niiiice
poker fan, I LOVE to play backgammon, except not with the doubling cube because I don't like to play for money, which, to some people, means I don't like to play backgammon.

are you killa good? I'm not...I guess that's one reason I don't like to bet... but I love to play. Sometimes I wait too long to start a backgame.
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pokerfan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:48 PM
Response to Reply #17
20. I've studied it a lot if that's what you mean
I don't play online because too many people use computers to inflate their play. I have friends I play money games with for a buck a game using the doubling cube and the Jacoby rule.

That said, I can hold my own against Jellyfish (a free game you can download to your computer) winning about 30-40% of the matches.

You can use the doubling cube in matches. Just use Crawford game if one player gets within one point of winning the match.
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RainDog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 08:22 PM
Response to Reply #20
21. ooohhh
okay. like I said, some people don't even think I know how to play... :) what are the jacoby v. the crawford rules?

I've never played online. probably a good thing b/c I'd disappear forever.
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pokerfan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 09:07 PM
Response to Reply #21
23. Jacoby for money games, Crawford for match play
Edited on Wed Jan-30-08 09:08 PM by pokerfan
Jacoby Rule:
A rule popular in money play which says that gammons and backgammons count only as a single game if neither player has offered a double during the game. The rule speeds up play by eliminating situations where a player avoids doubling so he can play on for a gammon.

The reason for the Jacoby rule is to speed up money games. Sometimes when a player is way ahead he might try for a gammon or backgammon leading to a long boring protracted game. If he can't win 2X or 3X the money that way, then he might as well offer a double and move on to the next game.


Crawford Rule:
A standard rule of match play. After either player comes within one point of winning the match, the following game is played without a doubling cube. This one game without doubling is called the Crawford Game. After the Crawford game, the doubling cube is back in play again.

The reason for the Crawford game is to reward the player who is ahead in the match. If he is one game from winning, the player that is behind will double immediately regardless of position as it doesn't matter to him whether he loses by one or two.


And a note on the doubling cube:
One fascinating thing about the cube: What would you think your chances of accepting a double have to be before it makes sense to accept a double? Would you believe just 25%?

Let's say your odds of winning are exactly 25% or one win out of four games. If you play this exact scenario four times, you will lose $4 if you are playing for a buck per game. If you accept the cube each time, you will lose $6 on the three games you lose and win $2 on the one game you win netting $4. The same amount as if you had declined the double each time. so if you have a 25% or better of winning, you should accept the double.
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flvegan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 06:56 PM
Response to Original message
4. Probably $50.
Both my Merck Veterinary Manual and my "Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" by Ah-nold cost around $50.
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Book Lover Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:01 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. Holy cats! Someone else in the world has a copy of Arnie's book
I hate to say it, but I found it useful.
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baldguy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:05 PM
Response to Original message
9. $120
A gift for My sister & bil - The National Geographic's 100 yr retrospective. hard bound, large format in a slip case.
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Book Lover Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:12 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. Oooh, I've seen that
That is one beautiful book.
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TZ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:05 PM
Response to Original message
10. $250 for a book about malaria vaccine development...
Written by my at the time boss. I really wanted to understand the science of the project I was working on.
I'm a science geek......:)
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Book Lover Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:13 PM
Response to Reply #10
12. That sounds like a
university press book :-) I'm glad to know someone else buys UP books for pleasure, too :-)
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Hayabusa Donating Member (561 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:22 PM
Response to Original message
13. $44.99
War of the Lance Sourcebook for Dungeons & Dragons.
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lizerdbits Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:22 PM
Response to Original message
14. About $150 for "Manual of Clinical Laboratory Immunology"
American Society for Microbiology books because I'm a dork. I've also bought textbook type books from them that are similar prices.
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hippywife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:30 PM
Response to Original message
15. I think it was only
$35 for a hardcover copy of Zinn's "A People's History of the United States" to send to my dad. Shithead never even looked at it. :eyes:
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zabet Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:35 PM
Response to Original message
16. $125
for a book of
Danish Modern
House plans.
Used w/ dust
jacket.
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Rabrrrrrr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 07:45 PM
Response to Original message
19. The most I've paid, that I can remember, is $120 for a limited edition partial bible thingy with art
I'm not Catholic, and it has a Catholic name - it's a sort of Bible, but only has the Catholic lectionary texts - or some subset of the whole Bible anyway. In Catholic tradition these books would be used to read from during worship, and they are filled with art.

The version I bought was by an African artist, at the artist's show in NYC - beautiful, beautiful stuff. And I bought three of them.

So I might not have the most expensive book, but I might have the most expensive for buying multiple copies. :-)

Two of them I gave away - one as an ordination gift, and the other to a retiring pastor. Neither Catholic, of course.
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theredpen Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Jan-30-08 08:45 PM
Response to Original message
22. $350 for the Dead Sea Scrolls
Edited on Wed Jan-30-08 08:48 PM by theredpen
Microfiche transfered to CD ROM.

For a book set we got a copy of the 40-volume works of the Church Fathers for about $150 — that set usually goes for $1200+. Half Priced Books had a set and had no idea what to do with it. Bwhahahaha!
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