How Much is That Dawkins Book?

It could just be all the cold medicine I’ve got in my system, but when I saw the title of your blog, in my head I heard:

“How much is the Dawwwwww-kins book in the window? arf arf”

*reads receipt*
*spits out baby-flavored milkshake*

6% sales tax? Mine is 7.25%! Do you know how much extra worldly sin I could buy with that?

That’s a rhetorical question, given that you’re a mathematician AND an atheist.

Also, shouldn’t Christian book prices be listed as imaginary numbers?

and the cashier is Sarah Palin

I was under the understanding that 616 vs. 666 depended on which language it was translated from, Greek vs. Latin. ???

I wonder if the price from Simon and Schuster will drop. I have a Groupon coupon burning a hole in my email.

Thanks for posting Hemant! @ Todd Grzech No this is not just in your area. It’s the same with our B/N. They always have an extra middle table in the walking area with the newer religious books as well. On the topic of buying from a local shop rather than a B/N, I would love to but sadly we do not have any around here. The B/N is the only shop within a reasonable drive.

@Todd Grzech

As an employee of B&N (actually, from a store in the same district as the one on the receipt), I can verify it is a case of supply meeting demand. When a B&N opens, the initial size of all the categories are based on the setup of an existing store within the area. After a little while, as sales of certain categories are demonstrated to be higher than company average or lower than company average, the size of the sections are adjusted accordingly.

I can say that my store is experiencing a similar trend that you describe. Our Religion/Inspiration section is exceptionally large (Xtian Inspiration and Religious Fiction mostly) while other areas are exceptionally small (Science/Tech, Gay/Lesbian Studies, Philosophy). As in-store sales continue on trends (or begin new ones), the subjects are shift/stretched/shrunk accordingly.

I mention this simply to point out that we’re in the interest of making money and selling books to do so. If I had my own bookstore and a surplus of funds, it’d be mostly philosophy, sci-fi/fantasy, science, and cultural studies. We don’t necessarily stock in-store what people ask for, but more so what they buy. Several subjects are heavily browsed but have poor sales; among them are Science, Nature, New Age, Education, Cultural Studies. As a result, the sections are messier than others, but have shrunk over the years that the store has been open.

My suggestion is that if people are dismayed by the small size of a subject area in their local B&N (Borders does a similar thing, or at least used to), that they and their friends do what they can to use it as a supplier for their science and atheism titles. The trends are noticed and acted upon in the long run.

@Todd and Justin:

Same in my area also (North Carolina Piedmont). That’s depressing.

Drew: Would love to use the library, but our local system is horribly underfunded and the religionists actively steal smarty-pants books. Y’know, because Jesus would have wanted it that way.

@Arkonbey

Secondly, I personally feel that Justin should have shopped at his local, independent bookstore.

Yeah, that’s all well and good, but a lot of people don’t have that option. In my case, I’d have to burn a little over a gallon of gasoline to make a special trip to the only independent store in town.

That would be absurd.

@Dauntless: gotta look for them. They’re there, but they won’t be if people don’t use ’em.

@ Todd Grzech: Interesting.It brings up a question: are most independent book stores liberal-leaning? Mine is but, I live in VT and most things are, so it’s hard for me to say.

@Drew: good point! My problem is that, if I like a book I borrowed, I always end up buying the darn thing later.

@Drew: it’s not pointless if you don’t just drive to go to the bookstore, but hit the grocery store, hardware store; this is a good idea anyway. Plus, I live rural, so the closest bookstore (well, anything but the hardware store) is 17 mi. away and I make big trips. Also, I look at avoiding big stores as serving a greater good, but that’s just me.

Damn… I paid $30 about 6 months ago. Is it out in paperback now? Not that I’m complaining. It’s an excellent book, and the hardcover edition is fantastically produced. Well worth the price I paid.

I’m an employee at a Barnes & Noble in Mississippi, and I just bought the same book at my store. What amused and disturbed me was that it’s on the table for “bargain fiction.” I’m pretty sure that’s just an oversight, as Dawkins’ book is not the only non-fiction on the table, but the idea that evolution is fiction is beyond entrenched here, and I can’t help wondering. It gets under my skin every time I have to straighten up that table.