Buying from Barnes and Noble

[Skammunist]

Hey guys, I've been wanting to get a copy of Socialism: Utopian and Scientific by Engels for awhile now, and I need it pretty quickly. It's at my local Barnes and Noble for $12, but I would rather buy it from Pathfinder Press (same price). The edition at Barnes and Noble is from Pathfinder.

My question is, would I benefit Pathfinder more if I bought from them directly? I don't really understand how publishing works. So does B&N just resell books and make publishers pay a fee to distribute them? I will buy from B&N if all the money would benefit Pathfinder.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

You can get it free here

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/

Pathfinder is run by the US SWP. They still hold the copy right on a lot of the classic US Trotskyist works,including James Cannon's books, etc. , which they jealously guard.This has been considered somewhat uncomradely by other organisations. The SWP today has the reputation, to be blunt, of being solely a travelling bookstore run by their dwindling number of elderly members.

Its good to want to help out a socialist organisation but in this case I would not worry about it a lot.

I do not know if or how much of a cut Barnes & Noble would get, I don't know how this works. It may be that distribution on the Pathfinder/SWP site is handled by B & N anyway.

[Drosophila]

Buying a book written by Engels seems kind of odd. I'd just follow Lenina's advice if I were you.

[Skammunist]

Lenina, I would like a hard copy for myself but thank you for the link. I will certainly use it if I can not get my hands on the book. As for the SWP, I already know about their problems with copyright and trying to sell their books. I actually read the Militant, and although they are really focused with selling the paper, they do seem genuinely interested with workers struggles in the US with unions and such.

Dan, I wouldn't mind reading it from the internet if I have to, but if I'm going to pay for it I'd rather the money go to a socialist organization then B&N.

[Prometeo liberado]

B&N still around? I just learned a lot that I didn't know about the SWP and Pathfinder!

[Firebrand]

Check out amazon. You might be able to pick up a secondhand copy for basically the postage fee. I buy most stuff secondhand these days. Readings too expensive a habit if you pay full price.

[Caj]

Check out amazon. You might be able to pick up a secondhand copy for basically the postage fee. I buy most stuff secondhand these days. Readings too expensive a habit if you pay full price.

Yep. I'd second amazon. Even buying books new on amazon is significantly cheaper than going to B&N or any other book store.

[Susurrus]

Protip: Getting a hard copy from B&N can be done without buying it.


WJ_yQ02xwsM

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Also

http://openlibrary.org/search?q=Engels&author_key=OL1368A

Its possible to download books legally from here.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

Protip: Getting a hard copy from B&N can be done without buying it.


WJ_yQ02xwsM

Believe me, as a huge bibliophile I've tried that method and I'm not very adept at it. Having said that I did work at a bookstore for some time and they were abusive to work for. So, I guess the term is "proletarian shopping...."

[Susurrus]

Believe me, as a huge bibliophile I've tried that method and I'm not very adept at it. Having said that I did work at a bookstore for some time and they were abusive to work for. So, I guess the term is "proletarian shopping...."

I actually find it to be quite easy at the big stores. Backpacks are helpful, as are large pockets. Carrying a cup of coffee and picking out something cheap to buy are also good. Picked up a couple things at a b&n just a couple days ago.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Buy from the cheapest place; chances are, no matter where you go, you will help fund the bourgeoisie in some form.In our society it is nearly impossible to do otherwise.While it is great to fund leftist groups sometimes we don't have the resources to buy overpriced copies.Do what you can financially and ignore anyone that says you are a "scab" for buying from a corp.

[mykittyhasaboner]

Steal it right out of barnes and noble. i've stolen quite a few books from the one near me. No cameras on the top floor. Might be different at the store near you but that's my suggestion.

[Ostrinski]

Get Red and Black's Essential Writings of Friedrich Engels. It contains Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, The Principles of Communism, The Party Played By Labor In the Transition from Ape to Man, Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy, and The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State.

It can be found here http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Writings-Friedrich-Engels-Scientific/dp/1610010035/ref=wl_it_dp_o_npd?ie=UTF8&coliid=I7X2EAWSW8NPQ&colid=23KFET23M5JI1

[MarxSchmarx]

Tom Morello from "Rage Against the Machine" was once asked why he signed on to a front company of the conglomerate sony records, a US subsidiary of Japan's sony corporation:



When you live in a capitalistic society, the currency of the dissemination of information goes through capitalistic channels. Would Noam Chomsky object to his works being sold at Barnes & Noble? No, because that's where people buy their books. We're not interested in preaching to just the converted. It's great to play abandoned squats run by anarchists, but it's also great to be able to reach people with a revolutionary message, people from Granada Hills to Stuttgart.

[x359594]

If it's a question of supporting the writer 9of a self-published book) or of supporting a small press, then buy directly from them because they get the full retail price. Otherwise the publisher gets 60% of the cover price and the retailer gets 40%.

Small press publishers especially rely on direct purchases, and naturally they're happy to sell their books at Barnes and Noble for the reasons stated by Tom Morello above.

[Caj]

Get Red and Black's Essential Writings of Friedrich Engels. It contains Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, The Principles of Communism, The Party Played By Labor In the Transition from Ape to Man, Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy, and [I]The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State.

Yes, this is a great collection of some of Engels' main works. There's also a corresponding one for Marx published by Red and Black that is equally great.

[Ostrinski]

Yes, this is a great collection of some of Engels' main works. There's also a corresponding one for Marx published by Red and Black that is equally great.They're the most practical imo. You could get Tucker's reader for more bulk but he just sticks random excerpts from different pieces in there and I didn't like that.

[Caj]

They're the most practical imo. You could get Tucker's reader for more bulk but he just sticks random excerpts from different pieces in there and I didn't like that.

I agree. I'm currently reading Tucker's reader, and I find it annoying that he hardly includes any of Marx or Engels' writings unabridged. When I read things abridged, I get paranoid that the editor is trying to hide something from me lol.