I’m such a doofus. Or not. Okay, you decide. And my apologies for this post, which pretty much amounts to an unabashed commercial message. But there’s a real bargain going on here, so please indulge me.
I’ve been on a Shakespeare kick for the last year and a half or so. I live in Alexandria, Virginia — that’s northern Virginia, inside the beltway, a short drive to the Folger Shakespeare Library and, more to the point, within range of at least three theatre companies that regularly put on productions of Shakespeare’s plays.
It’s been an embarrassment of riches. In the last 18 months I’ve averaged a different live Shakespeare play every two months or so. Just ask Random Kath — she’ll vouch for me. Highlights: Teller’s production of Macbeth. The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Love’s Labors Lost outdoors at the Carter Barron Ampitheatre. And an impromptu Christmas version of Hamlet at the Clark Street Playhouse.
So, to the point: Back in March of 2007, I paid $200 for a complete set of hardcover Pelican Shakespeares: 38 volumes. It’s a terrific set — an easy-to-read quality hardcover edition of the 37 plays in Shakespeare’s canon, plus one volume of the Sonnets. Way better than one of those giant one-volume Shakespeares that threaten to snap your arms off at the wrist, these are easy to carry, easy to read, and each volume is self-contained with all the support you need to enjoy the play without being overwhelmed with footnotes.
I repeat: I paid $200 for this. Full price. Here’s a pic of my actual set, on my actual bookshelf, taken with the crappy li’l camera in my actual MacBook:
And now, here’s the doofus part: Amazon has it for sale right now at $59.80. That’s a 70% discount from what I paid for it. Doing the math, that comes out to less than $1.60 per volume. As Othello put it just before offing Desdemona, “Oy vey iz mir!”
There are a couple of drawbacks. I would have preferred that the volumes be a little bit smaller so that they would be truly pocket-sized. And I would also have liked if they included a couple of more volumes in the set so that I’d also have Two Noble Kinsmen and the narrative poems to round out the oeuvre.
But at this price it’s hard to complain.
I realize that most of my readers have already clicked away at this point. But for a few of you, well, I can already hear you drooling. I’m miffed as all get-out that I way overpaid for the set, but I also know that some of you will be thanking me for putting you wise to this.
So, does that un-doofus me a little then?
Here’s the link:
