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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2009 > May > 12 > Entry
Steal This Book.
Some readers might recall that about 35 years ago the radical Abbie Hoffman wrote a book called Steal This Book. While it was a popular book most bookstores didn’t like carrying it. The reason is obvious.
The title presented an irresistible challenge to some shoppers which led to a shrinkage problem for many retailers. For every copy they sold another one vanished. I’m sure that some shoplifters who got caught pilfering Hoffman’s savage tome tried to make the lame excuse that they were merely following the author’s instructions.
How times have changed. Digital piracy has altered that larcenous playing field. Music has been bootlegged for years but the computer age made ripping off music as simple as pressing a key. No need for rubber dubbers in this age of high-tech hackers and digital grifters.
Movies became inviting targets for massive theft and piracy. I met a fellow once who bragged about the unreleased movies he watches. I have never seen one myself and I don’t plan to do so but I hear the picture quality isn’t that bad on most pirated films.
With the arrival of wireless reading devices like the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle the latest wave in digital piracy is in the world of books. Can you believe it?
Abby Hoffman must be spinning one in his grave. To find out how digital thieves can Steal This Book click HERE:
I wish I had my old copy of Hoffman’s book. I think somebody probably swiped it…I just checked Amazon.com to see if the book is available. You’ll love this; it is being re-issued next month on the veritable Penguin Classics imprint. Penguin Classics only reprints the classics of literature. That makes me feel like a fossil. Do you remember when the book came out?
Vick Mickunas
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: booms and busts
Comments
By Barbara Delaney
May 21, 2009 6:22 PM | Link to this
I still have my copy! My sons have all read it. Unfortunately one of my friends who was in Chicago for the Democratic convention drew on the blank page where Abby said draw your own experience. I’m 55 years old, and believe it or not Alice, someday you will be too. WTF is your problem?By Alice
May 13, 2009 4:26 PM | Link to this
You should feel old if you were a grown-up (chronologically) when this book was released ha ha. If a person was at least 18 when this book came out in 1970, they’d be 57 now. I would guess that a good portion of your readers weren’t even born yet.By edo
May 13, 2009 11:33 AM | Link to this
Don’t have that book, but have an old copy of “The Tales of Hoffman”, the transcript of the “Chicago Seven (or Eight)” trial… some funny stuff, as you faithful listeners will remember the Judge was named Hoffman… and Jerry Rubin was from Cincinnati, went to Walnut Hills… I have a picture at home of Jerry and some of the staff of the Cincinnati Post, my sister included, taken in ‘69… meanwhile I was in the marines saving the world for democracy (remember that?)