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Comments 8

patient_0 April 12 2009, 19:46:11 UTC
I haven't bought anything from Amazon for years-- I tend to frequent my used bookstores first, and if all else fails, order it through Barnes & Noble.

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3g0 April 12 2009, 19:52:50 UTC
This especially sucks because I would rather impale my eyes on nails than shop at B&N. Library time.

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patient_0 April 12 2009, 20:00:09 UTC
It does suck... we need a CraigsList for booksluts.

Luckily, there's an awesome used bookstore here in Chapel Hill-- went there yesterday and picked up a 1970's paperback of Borge's Dreamtigers, a copy of Jung's Man and His Symbols, and a brand-new copy of Capote's Answered Prayers.

The damage? $7.32, 20% of which is funneled into the local no-kill Cat Hospital & Sanctuary.

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timiathan April 12 2009, 20:15:19 UTC
Craigslist for books. That's an awesome idea.

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3g0 April 12 2009, 21:10:23 UTC
There's Bookins & BookMooch, both of which are decent though of course one should be prepared to wait awhile for things too far off the beaten path, or cookbooks.

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timiathan April 12 2009, 20:18:43 UTC
I don't know -- of course boycotting big corporations in favor of independent bookstores is always a good thing, but aren't we overreacting a bit here? It's not like you can't buy Lady Chatterly's Lover...it's still there for sale just like any other book. The rank just isn't listed...and it's not like anyone search through books based on rank (you're going to skim down to #3,304 to find it?).

Also, are we sure that this is even what's going on? All that article links to are screenshots of Amazon.com pages, no statement from the company about what they're doing. As someone who obsessively (and embarrassingly) checks my own embarrassing Amazon rank all the time, I know for a fact that sometimes at random it just doesn't list a rank for no reason. Those book data lists are fluid -- I don't know what triggers them to shift, but they shift all the time. Is there even verification that this is (even a slight) form of censorship?

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timiathan April 12 2009, 20:29:29 UTC
Nevermind, I followed the trail of links far enough to find a statement from Amazon giving the label "adult content." I still think there are better, broader reasons to avoid Amazon.com though.

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