Cory Doctorow’s review of the ARIEL reissue linked to a pic of his ganked-out copy of the original paperback, which he has read possibly more times than I have read A Wrinkle in Time (which I think I’ve read more times than any other novel). Curiously, over the years readers have sent me a few other pics of ganked-out copies of ARIEL.
Clearly these ARIEL-retentives need a nice shiny brandspankingnew copy.
Clearly the thing to do is to hold a contest.
So here’s the deal. Send me a picture of your own ganked-out copy of the original edition of ARIEL. The owner of the most nasty, gnarly, beatup dogeared puppychewed copy will win an autographed copy of the bright shiny new purty purty paperback edition of ARIEL, courtesy of Yrs. Truly.
Send your pix to 
. Deadline is noon, Sept. 17. I will be the sole arbiter of gankiness (no photoshopping, you clever devils you), and I’ll post the pic when I announce the winner.
It’s worth mentioning that the original edition in good condition is worth a bit nowadays, so you might want to think hard before you ganking-out that pristine copy just to win a new one.
It’s worth mentioning that the original edition in good condition is worth a bit nowadays, so you might want to think hard before you ganking-out that pristine copy just to win a new one.
Money being what it is, don’t think I haven’t been tempted to sell mine . . .
Did I sign yours? What did I say? Something totally stoopid, I’ll bet.
No, you didn’t. Nor did you sign the copy of The Architect of Sleep (which I’ve similarly looked at with an appraising eye when contemplating eBay income supplementation.)
I recall that you did sign the copy of Treks Not Taken that I got when we first met. I can’t find the book right now, but I think it was something about the lingerie being a perfect fit. And you sent me a used copy of Archy and Mehitabel inscribed “Toujours Gai, m’dear!”
Sentimental fool that I am, I’m not likely to get rid of the books unless I reach the selling-all-my-earthly-possessions kind of crisis point. (Even after seven months of unemployment, I haven’t gotten to that stage.) The books themselves, even unopened, evoke a time in my life that I still treasure the memories of.
Well, I have a copy of H. Beam Pipers compilation of the three Fuzzy novels…my wife was going to buy me a newer one, but couldn’t find it in the store (mine is dogged out, it’s been read so often) so went online, found the cheapest copy of it for $75 bucks, and at the time the best copy topped out over $700…it was a temptation to sale it…but, why, I could never get a new copy of it…so I wouldn’t sale it if I had it…wished I still had my copy…even with my name wrote on the edge of the pages like it was LOL
I hunted down my copy of Ariel, and found that it is most likely a 2nd-hand bookstore copy that I bought later after my original was lost/lent-out/otherwise disappeared. So, I’ll admit, it’s looking rather shiny. FWIW, my Architect of Sleep is quite dogeared!! Love to get a signed new one, but mine officially doesn’t qualify as “ganked-out.” Maybe I’ll email you anyway! Cheers!
I found my copy of Ariel – it’s actually not ganked-out much at all! The pages are rather yellowed, but I’m really pleased with it – it’s lasted well, despite 11 cross-country moves. It’s 3rd printing, May 1984.
Even though it’s in good shape, I’ll email it on to you for posterity’s sake.
Hey Steve! Still have my old 1984 copy, taped, laminated, stapled, ANYTHING to keep the broken spine from spitting out any pages. As a result, it looks pretty good, so I can’t complain of any real gackiness. In fact, I just finished reading it a couple months ago – I take it out every few months and reread it, see. I was happy to have the new one in my hands, but that old one ain’t going anywhere. Everyone knows my fondness for it, so it’s in good hands.