Buy The Book

I bought a book the other day.

Actually, I bought two books.

Well, technically, I bought two copies of the same book.

The book was "Son of a Witch", written by Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked, which was turned into a terrific musical. The touring version of the musical came to town and everyone in my family saw it, some more than once! So, for my niece and my mother, I bought this book which is a sequel to Wicked which is itself an unofficial prequel to "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".

I was reading about Amazon's Kindle and other e-book readers and I pondered what it would be like to "give" an e-book to someone? Of course there are advantages such as the environmental impact, electronic delivery, and so on. I think I might buy an electronic book for myself, but as a gift? Would the recipient have been as appreciative? Would I have still bought two "electronic" copies?

By buying a hardcopy version, I have a tangible memento, a souvenir, not electrons. A book is a vote of confidence in the author, that this will earn a place on a bookshelf, to read and experience again and perhaps share with the next generation. Long after my current PC has been recycled.