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Review
"Charming."--"The New York Times"
"Their enthusiasm is everywhere infectious...delightful...the pages are radiant with a pervasive love of literature."--"The Washington Times"
"The authors' descriptions are evocative, their storytelling compassionate-- and frequently hilarious. A sort of "Year in Provence" for book lovers."--"Kirkus Reviews"
"Most books about books are as stuffy and musty as a 400-year-old binding, but the Goldstones' prose is as sprightly and readable as the 'modern firsts' they began to add to their collections. I read it in one sitting."--"Rocky Mountain News"
"An entertaining introduction to the world of book collecting."--"Publishers Weekly"
"Their enthusiasm is everywhere infectious...delightful...the pages are radiant with a pervasive love of literature."--"The Washington Times"
"The authors' descriptions are evocative, their storytelling compassionate-- and frequently hilarious. A sort of "Year in Provence" for book lovers."--"Kirkus Reviews"
"Most books about books are as stuffy and musty as a 400-year-old binding, but the Goldstones' prose is as sprightly and readable as the 'modern firsts' they began to add to their collections. I read it in one sitting."--"Rocky Mountain News"
"An entertaining introduction to the world of book collecting."--"Publishers Weekly"
Product Description
When Nancy tracked down a ten-dollar copy of War and Peace in order to win a birthday bet with Larry, the Goldstones' love affair with old books began. Over the next three years they haunted every used and rare bookshop between New York and Boston that they could find, from dingy, dust-filled barns to elegant Park Avenue galleries. Starting small on cheap, out-of-print used books, their addiction soon graduated to first editions and, finally, to three-quarter morocco, custom-bound antiquarian classics that they could not afford. Along the way, they gained an education in books - and in people - that we can all savor. This warm and witty story is filled with eccentric characters, from a punk book dealer peddling fifty-thousand-dollar modern firsts to a golf-obsessed Shakespearean scholar with books on demonic possession in his basement. Part travel story, part love story, and part memoir, Used and Rare is an absorbing and delightful journey and a love letter to book lovers everywhere.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you love buying, reading and then admiring the books on your shelves, you'll love this book. If you've never been to a second-hand book dealer's shop, you soon will. It's compulsive reading, then compulsive spending!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Books on book collecting might be boring. This one is exciting. The enthusiasm of Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, professional writers who live in the Berkshire hills of Massachussetts, is contagious. They are novices at book collecting until Nancy decides to purchase a nice hard cover copy of War and Peace to give to Lawrence. She has a $20.00 budget (based on a deal the couple made to stop buying each other expensive silly birthday presents and to cap the cost at twenty dollars). Nancy decides that she will buy Lawrence a nice hardcover copy of War and Peace. This turns out to be something of a search for the holy grail. Does she want a first edition? In English, French, or Russian. What translation does she want? Nancy and Lawrence soon find themselves hooked on collecting books, especially modern first editions, and go traversing the Berkshire Hills for books, used and rare. They go to Boston and New York. They attend book fairs and auctions. They buy a set of the Wharton sisters books at auction for $60. They promise to give up eating out to rationalize a purchase in Boston.They buy a two volume set of Dickens Bleak House for $700.00. But they are just as happy with their $20.00 copy of Andersonville. They uncover the mystery of what "first state" and "second state" is, and what it means for a book to be "foxed" or "shaken" or "rubbed." They cannot understand why Burroughs first edition of Tarzan sells for $50,000.00. They love every minute of their book exploration, including some eccentric antiquarian book sellers they meet along the way. Their enthusiasm captures the reader. This quick read will make you a book collector.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was hooked by the bottom of the first page. Certainly I enjoyed learning a bit about rare books, but the sub-plot was just as interesting to me. I envy the authors:(1) the number and proximity of stores (2) the closeness that this brought to them as a couple - a sharing of a passion and (3) their income to buy books. My question is: Did they EVER get the Fitzgerald?
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Entertaining and informative
First Sentence: We came to book collecting because our birthdays fall eight days apart.
[Dust Jacket] Years ago, the Goldstones fled high-paying jobs in Manhattan to... Read more
[Dust Jacket] Years ago, the Goldstones fled high-paying jobs in Manhattan to... Read more
Published on 3 Dec 2008 by L. J. Roberts
Gentle Madness, light, very light
The book I refer to in the title is, "A Gentle Madness" by Nicholas A. Basbanes. If you are not yet prepared to spend the time the 638-page Basbanes book requires, this... Read more
Published on 29 Oct 2002 by taking a rest
Delightful and entertaining read!
This book was an adorable memoir!! Well written, humorous, and even dropped facts about antiquarian book collecting.
Published on 9 May 1999
Delicious!
The word "delightful" is much over-used but I can't think of a better word to describe "Used and Rare" by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone. Read more
Published on 13 April 1999
So good I could hardly wait for before sleep reading time!
Comparing tihs book to A Year in Provence is very accurate, for as with that book I often found myself laughing outloud and smiling aplenty. Read more
Published on 30 May 1998
USED & RARE is a booklover's dream.
I am currently reading this book for the third time; not because I didn't understand it the first two times, but because I simply LOVED it the first two times. Read more
Published on 18 April 1998
Book-lovers will first identify, then be inspired.
In their quest for books, the two Goldstones are nearly as one - one completely obsessed collector. Read more
Published on 30 Sep 1997
This one's a keeper!
A simply delightful romp! MUST READ for anyone who has ever collected or even thought about collecting books. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 1997
Not your ordinary guide
If you love your library and savor your books, this is a must read. Anyone interested in the basics of book collecting will learn something on every page. Read more
Published on 13 May 1997
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