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radiantfractureGood 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.
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.
no subject
Date: 2017-08-01 09:30 am (UTC)And mine!
no subject
Date: 2017-08-01 04:28 pm (UTC)I blame my recent re-read of 84, Charing Cross Road for my desire to write bookseller correspondence that exceeds the necessary minimum message.