Amazon.com was offering hardcovers of John Grisham's "Ford
County" and Barbara Kingsolver's "The Lacuna" for just $9
on Tuesday, the official release date for both books -
Amazon.com: http://xrl.us/PriceWar -. Hardcovers generally
have a list price of $24 or higher.

In mid-October, Walmart.com announced dramatic discounts
for pre-orders of "Ford County," Sarah Palin's "Going
Rogue" and other popular November publications. Wal-
Mart.com initially charged $9 for the books, a price
quickly matched by Amazon.com, then dropped to $8.98 by Wal-
Mart.com.

Authors, publishers and rival booksellers worry that
cutting the price so low will harm competition and force
down the cost of books overall, leading to a reduction in
author advances.

On Tuesday, Walmart.com was selling "Ford County" for $12
and "The Lacuna" for $13.50. Another price cutter,
Target.com, was selling "Ford County" for $15 and "The
Lacuna" for $18.89.

While I may disagree politically with the Walmart
management, who can deny these hayseeds are
masters of process?

I was in the local Walmart while ago, grocery
shopping, but stopped to look over their large
collection of Reading for Rightards featuring
Glenn Beck and Pat Robertson who had once
petitioned God Almighty to steer Hurricane Gloria
clear of Virginia Beach.  (It made a beeline
for Godless New Haven.)

I came upon one title of interest: "Going Roguish"
by Sarah Pei-Lin *with* (it said) Kermitsky
Green.  Her literary assistant's name seemed
familiar, but I couldn't quite place it.
I thought it might be a housing
project in Chicgao.