Who Doesn’t Love Free Stuff?

I’ve been debating holding contests here on booksnark.net, throwing out questions and puzzles and calls for creativity in order to generate a fabulous prize. But the inspiration for both questions and fabulous prizes has been long in coming.

In the meantime, check out this awesome contest over at Galleycat. The question is: What book ignited your love for reading? A few winners will receive a copy of An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England.

And you all know my answer to the question. Here’s page 55:

 

 

 

Story Source  Galleycat  |  Image Source  Flickr

October 7, 2008 | Filed Under Random Acts of Snarkness | Leave a Comment 

Fear, Loathing, and Rare Books in Las Vegas?

It seems an unlikely match.

Bauman Rare Books, a Philadelphia-based rare and out-of-print bookstore, has recently opened up a satellite store in, of all places, The Palazzo Resort Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The Palazzo now joins Mandalay Bay as the only destinations on the Las Vegas Strip housing bookstores. And soon, Bauman’s at The Palazzo will be on its own: Mandalay Bay has announced it will close its Reading Room sometime in the near future.

Which isn’t terribly surprising, considering one doesn’t immediately think of Las Vegas as a particularly bookish city. Even I, the Book Snark, didn’t do much reading on the occasions I visited Sin City. I played The Price is Right slot machines till my fingers turned blue. I attended an “adult revue” that had entirely too many innies and not nearly enough outies. I made love to a sixteen mile long buffet at three in the morning. But reading? Naw, I didn’t do much of that.

Yet I have to hand it to the folks at Bauman. They’ve claimed their little corner of Vegas, and, at least according to store managers, have been doing exceptionally well. “We are averaging 2,500-3,000 people a week who are coming into the gallery,” says store manager Laura Minor. Fellow manager Justin McShea seconds that. “I think on a slow day we see 200 people through the door,” he says.

Remember, this is no Barnes & Noble or Borders. Bauman only sells very rare old books, like a $375 paperback copy of Octopussy by Ian Fleming. And yes, they have a signed first edition of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for sale as well.

Given their locale, Bauman does try to get out the message that anyone can collect rare books. They even have a few on their shelves for just over $100.

But clearly, the store will benefit the most from those who just won a crapload at craps and are suddenly in the mood for a first edition of Remembrance of Things Past.

As for me, the next time I’m in Las Vegas, I now know where I will spend my Plinko money.

Story Source The Movable Buffet | Image Source LVABJ

September 30, 2008 | Filed Under Random Acts of Snarkness | 100 Comments 

For the Love of Crosswords

I am a big crossword puzzle fan. Admittedly, I’m not terribly good at them, but I love trying. There’s something so fulfilling about completing a crossword puzzle, be it the ridiculous simplicity of TV Guide’s weekly offering, the one at the back of your kid’s Weekly Reader, or that grand behemoth of all crosswords, The New York Times. Typically I find USA Today’s crossword to be in my scope of possibility, though my dream — and I confess this sheepishly — is to finish the one in The New York Times…fairly. I always end up royally cheating and looking up the more baffling answers online.

In the BS’s fantasy, I complete the Times crossword, trumpets blare, and the next day am heralded a saint by that ancient prune with the pointy hat who lives in Rome.

Crossword puzzle books abound, and I am thankful for them.  Especially on a long plane ride when trying to trip the flight attendants stops being fun.  Or on a long car ride when trying to moon the senior citizens, or the busload of nuns, in the neighboring lane stops being fun.  Or….OK, I’ll stop.

After doing a bit of research, I’ve come up with what are arguably the most difficult clues in crossword puzzle history.  The puzzle, of course, appeared in The New York Times.  Daniel Girardi constructed the monster, and it was first printed in 1987.  Here’s a sampling of clues from this brain-basher:

  • Levantine coffee cup (4 letters)
  • Midianite ruler (3 letters)
  • Schoenberg’s “Moses und —–” (4 letters)
  • Japanese kombu ingredient (4 letters)
  • Honshu port (5 letters)
  • Kepi part (5 letters)
  • Lavabo (4 letters)

If you have the cajones to attack this puzzle, click here for all the fun.  The BS will stick to the Weekly Reader for the time being.

And since the holidays are fast approaching, you may want to think about The Snark Puzzle Book for any young booksnarks-in-training on your shopping list.

 

Image Source  Flickr

September 18, 2008 | Filed Under Random Acts of Snarkness | 237 Comments 

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      WHAT IS A SNARK?




      The Snark is a creature created by Lewis Carroll in his poem "The Hunting of the Snark". To give a proper description of Snarks, one must look no further than Carroll himself, who summed them up in one word: Unimaginable.

      But this much we do know: some have feathers, some have whiskers. Snarks sleep a lot, yet they are an ambitious lot -- with very little sense of humor. They love bathing-machines and tend to bring them wherever they go; they are also handy for striking a light. Snarks live on a far-off island, a place filled with chasms and crags, and are constantly on the lookout for Snark-hunters. Their mortal enemies are hope, care, thimbles and forks.

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