Quest for Barnes
Apr. 13th, 2006 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiSo, yesterday morning, I'm catching up on junk mail, and grab the latest mailing from the Sci-Fi Book Club*. And there, out of nowhere, is a full-page listing for The Armies of Memory, a brand-new Giraut novel! How the hell was I completely unaware of the release a new novel by one of my favorite authors, featuring one of my favorite characters?
So, after running some morning errands,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
shadesong and I decided to stop at Borders on the way to lunch, seeing as we had a 10% off shopping day there.
After checking the new fiction section, I went to the handy computer terminal to look for the book. Lo and behold, the computer told me that there was, indeed, one copy in the store! I hit "print," only to see evidence that the software Borders uses is Windows-based, instead of the undeniably-better Anything Else. Yep, I scored a Blue Screen of Death.
Even though the location was still, technically, a mystery, it seemed logical enough to assume that the one copy was in the sci-fi section, which was where we were headed, anyway. However, although there were many books that appealed in that section, few were by Barnes. After asking a store employee, we were told that, yes, the computer said it was in stock, and in sci-fi, but it "must have gotten lost," and they had no idea where it was. Le sigh.
On a hunch, I checked the "fiction and literature" section, but no such luck (although they did have the works of some guy named Julian Barnes, as if there's really room for another author with that last name; this "Julian" guy will go nowhere, I'm sure). Fine. So we browsed for a while longer, then got ready to go. On a whim, just as we were about to head out, I peeked at the mystery section. And there, sitting in the "b" section as if it belonged there, was the one copy of The Armies of Memory! Score!
Additional surprise: Although Barnes still doesn't have a homepage or any other real net presence, he does have an Amazon Plog. I cannot hear "plog" without assuming that milk caps are involved.
*Yes, I'm a member. But I've got my account set up so they never send the monthly book unless I request it.
So, after running some morning errands,
shadesong and I decided to stop at Borders on the way to lunch, seeing as we had a 10% off shopping day there.After checking the new fiction section, I went to the handy computer terminal to look for the book. Lo and behold, the computer told me that there was, indeed, one copy in the store! I hit "print," only to see evidence that the software Borders uses is Windows-based, instead of the undeniably-better Anything Else. Yep, I scored a Blue Screen of Death.
Even though the location was still, technically, a mystery, it seemed logical enough to assume that the one copy was in the sci-fi section, which was where we were headed, anyway. However, although there were many books that appealed in that section, few were by Barnes. After asking a store employee, we were told that, yes, the computer said it was in stock, and in sci-fi, but it "must have gotten lost," and they had no idea where it was. Le sigh.
On a hunch, I checked the "fiction and literature" section, but no such luck (although they did have the works of some guy named Julian Barnes, as if there's really room for another author with that last name; this "Julian" guy will go nowhere, I'm sure). Fine. So we browsed for a while longer, then got ready to go. On a whim, just as we were about to head out, I peeked at the mystery section. And there, sitting in the "b" section as if it belonged there, was the one copy of The Armies of Memory! Score!
Additional surprise: Although Barnes still doesn't have a homepage or any other real net presence, he does have an Amazon Plog. I cannot hear "plog" without assuming that milk caps are involved.
*Yes, I'm a member. But I've got my account set up so they never send the monthly book unless I request it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-13 02:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-13 02:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-13 06:25 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-13 02:42 pm (UTC)they keep telling me that's not possible.
pricks.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-04-13 04:45 pm (UTC)