I first read my selection almost 30 years ago on the recommendation of a friend. Since then I’ve read and collected first editions of all Robbins' books (except his first, “Another Roadside Attraction” that still eludes me at a reasonable price – a good copy is $500+). They all have the same pleasant weirdness as JP.
Speaking of “firsts,” this is the first book I’ve read in Kindle format. Part of me hates the idea of paper books being replaced by electronic files. Physical books have a wonderful feel to them and look nice on your shelf. For book collectors, the first printing of an author’s first book is frequently the most valuable because the publisher normally starts off with a small number of copies; if there is demand it goes into 2nd and 3rd printings which are less valuable. The first Harry Potter book had a first printing of 500 copies and to date has sold over 20,000,000 copies; those first 500 copies are insanely expensive now but the later 19,999,500 have little or no collector value. For books in electronic format, all these principles of rarity are irrelevant and book collecting, sadly, goes away.
On the other hand, I love the Kindle experience and will most likely make this my primary method of reading books. I'm now in the middle of Ken Follett's new 1000-page monster and it's much more convenient than the giant book, especially while travelling. After all my whining above, this probably makes me some kind of especially loathsome traitor.
One comment about our book: I was taken by how Robbins wove this long tale of Kudra and Alobar living together for hundreds of years then becoming separated for hundreds more years then finally resolved this main plot line with a few words tacked on the end of the final sentence of the book.
I learned something about 1st editions! And, I'm intrigued enough about JP to make sure I finish the book. Thanks for a great pick, and sharing your paper/Kindle thoughts!
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