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We’ve spent the whole weekend covering serious book-pricing news with the iPad and the Kindle, so we decided it was time to take a lighthearted romp through the world of Extremely Expensive Book Reviews to relax.
The pages of Amazon are loaded with strange, touching, and fanatical reviews for books that cost thousands of dollars. For instance, here’s a review of TASCHEN’s limited edition Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon: The Greatest Movie Never Made–with a $5,000 price tag: “Ten books inside this massive green behemoth tell and illustrate the story of how Kubrick attempted to make this period epic for MGM right after 2001: A Space Odyssey … It’s a movie in a box, waiting to be made. Serious, scholarly discussion of the subjects complement an embarrassment of photographic riches to fill up this beautiful, one of a kind volume for serious study of the process of independent film production. The product design of this monster is one-of-a-kind. It’s worth every penny.”
Here’s an absolutely beautiful review of Selected Nuclear Materials and Engineering Systems, a title with a $7,838.03 price tag: “I had to sell my car and take out an equity loan on my house to buy this book, but it was worth every penny. The previous volumes built to almost unbearable tension, leaving many questions unanswered. Would breeder reactors survive competition from newer technology? Would the nuclear waste problem be solved in our lifetime? Would Iran’s nuclear program be stopped before it could endanger the free world? Could Diablo Canyon ever be made safe from earthquakes? Would the beautiful but annoying anti-nuclear activist (played by Jane Fonda in the TV miniseries adaptation) come around to seeing the joys and wonders of nuclear power?”
One reviewer took a personal tack while praising the $4,500 leather bound edition of Antarctica: Explorer Series, Vol. 1: “I had the pleasure of sharing a tent with Rosemarie Keough during the photographing of the Emperor Penguins at the Dawson-Lambton Glacier in November/December 2000, and I can attest first hand to her ceaseless pursuit to capture on film as many phases of Emperor Penguin activity that constantly changing weather conditions would allow … Anyone who would like to own a rare masterpiece of shear exquisiteness should not hesitate to add this magnificent volume to his/her collection.”
Finally, Amazon has one $3,200 copy left of Dinosaur Sculpting, which earned this review: “This was one of the best books I have ever purchased off of Amazon.com. I’ve always wanted to sculpt, esspecially dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Dinosaur Sculpting provides all the information you’ll ever need to perfect this beautiful art. Many beautiful sculptures thrive through out the book, which inspire and amaze you. This sculpting guide has lead me into sculpting, and soon, I may even make a business off of it, all thanks to Dinosaur Sculpting.”
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