Dear Online Bookseller (Re: Order # ______)

[radiantfracture]

Good day:

Today I received a package from [Bookseller] which I believe was in fulfillment of the order indicated above.

However, when I opened the envelope, it turned out to contain, not Haunts of the Black Masseur: The Swimmer as Hero by Charles Sprawson, but A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin.

This is a wonderful novel, but not the book I ordered. Unless someone else ordered it for me as a gift?

Haunts of the Black Masseur is (by reputation -- I haven't read it) one of those books that is a kind of sport, a genre unto itself: an art historian's surreal history of swimming. A Wizard of Earthsea is, of course, a terrific young adult fantasy novel in the young-wizard-goes-to-school genre, though it's also more than that -- an exploration of what magic might be, of connection to land, of failure and redemption. I know because I own the compact illustrated Puffin edition (1980) and therefore have no immediate need for this second copy.

If this was a case of mistaken identities, I feel a bit sad for the perplexed young person who ordered LeGuin and got my Sprawson. (Then again, maybe it will be a revelation.)

Can you clear up this confusion? Apart from being the wrong book, the order is otherwise entirely satisfactory.

Thank you,

R. Fracture



Note: This letter has been slightly expanded for my own amusement.

Comments

[konsectatrix]

*amused* XD

Idly curious if it was thru abebooks, as I recently had an interesting order swap happen to me, too (I've ordered books thru them for years, so even two incidents would not discourage me from buying with them).

[radiantfracture]

It was through abebooks, though I think the particular bookseller would have been the one to fulfill the order(?)

I can't really fault anyone for sending the wrong package, but it was disorienting enough to amuse me. Substitutions are themselves a bit mystical, so I sort of wish it had been a book I didn't yet have.

[konsectatrix]

Yeah, it's not really AbeBooks fault. In my case they resolved it very quickly. I got to keep the book, the seller said they didn't have a replacement, and they refunded me so I could get it from another seller. No complaints here.

Hee! Yeah, the book I got was about business rules, so it was useful, if not at all what I'd asked for at the time.

[sovay]

Haunts of the Black Masseur is (by reputation -- I haven't read it) one of those books that is a kind of sport, a genre unto itself: an art historian's surreal history of swimming.

I hope you get your copy; that sounds amazing.

[radiantfracture]

I heard about it on Backlisted, of course -- wherein I also discovered (or recontextualized) Jane Gardham, Barbara Comyns, J.L. Carr, and that other definite sport and original genre, All the Devils are Here by David Seabrook.

[sovay]

and that other definite sport and original genre, All the Devils are Here by David Seabrook.

That also sounds amazing.

I discovered J.L. Carr by picking up the NYRB reprint of A Month in the Country one afternoon in a used book store of late lamented memory. I still haven't managed to read anything else of his, but I still love A Month in the Country.

[radiantfracture]

I liked All the Devils are Here a great deal. I think Granta is re-releasing it in the relatively near future. I could only read it as an ebook, so I'm waiting until the re-release to decide whether it is one of The Books or not.

I love A Month in the Country, too. I made exploratory forays into one or two of Carr's other books, but they were farces and I couldn't quite find a way in.

[shewhomust]

...slightly expanded for my own amusement.

And mine!

[radiantfracture]

:D Thanks!

I blame my recent re-read of 84, Charing Cross Road for my desire to write bookseller correspondence that exceeds the necessary minimum message.

[redbird]

I have just requested this from my local library system, because why not. It'll be a mix from the fantasy adventures I've mostly been reading lately (Diane Duane, Jim Hines, Ben Aaronovitch).

[radiantfracture]

Excellent. If you get it first, I'd love to know what you think...

{rf}