RE: Hole in a box

From: Damien Broderick (d.broderick@english.unimelb.edu.au)
Date: Mon Feb 18 2002 - 23:13:41 MST


At 04:17 PM 2/19/02 +1030, Emlyn the singing physicist wrote:

>btw, any idea how I can get hold of White Abacus? I've tried local
>bookshops, including Known Space, but no luck.

Ha!

< sounds of skin torn from scalp >

Australian bookshops hate selling Australian science fiction. They don't
know it exists. If they do know, they deny this for fear of pollution.
Something like that. (`We don't stock it because it never sells.' `How do
you know it never sells if you don't stock it?' `I think we used to stock
it once but it never sold.' `Oh. Hmmm. Got any Piers Anthony?' `Come right
this way, my man! Just past that entire wall groaning with imported Star
Wars and Star Trek knock-offs.')

(They do know Australian fantasy exists, especially if it comes in obese
trilogy form.)

Damien Broderick
[of course American bookshops also hate selling Australian science fiction,
but they have more excuse. Who? Where? Huh? Very few customers here in
Biloxi read Austrian.]



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