Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:41:22 -0700 (PDT) From: Tamar Lindsay <dicconf at yahoo.com> Subject: [WSFA] Re: Ah, retail & the public To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net> Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net> The man asking for maps wasn't necessarily a book reader. The question about whether Dickens wrote any shorter versions of his long novels makes sense - after all, quite a few long SF novels were expanded from their original short-story form. Given the amount of hype in book titles, I'm not surprised the kid thought HHGTTG might be an actual guide. And since I didn't have to read the thing in school, it was literally decades before I found out that Anne Frank dies at the end - that's something people don't talk about. They say how inspiring it is, how emotionally affecting it is - they never say it's a downer because she dies. Since the woman hadn't read it and I'm betting nobody told her either, her questionwas perfectly valid. =Tamar ----- Original Message ---- From: Mike B. <yahoo at omniphile.com> Subject: [WSFA] Re: Ah, retail & the public Michael Walsh wrote: > http://newslite.tv/2010/06/18/overheard-in-a-bookshop-are-re.html Of course the HHGTTG contained an entry on Italy...Italy is part of Earth, and the Earth entry is located just under the entry for "Eccentrica Gallumbits, the triple-breasted whore of Eroticon 6". -- Mike B.