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Here’s the result of a quick check on Amazon:

Maxon & Dixon: paper $11.44 / Kindle $12.99

Gravity’s Rainbow: paper $13.42 / Kindle $12.99

Inherent Vice: paper $10.88 / Kindle $11.99

V: paper $10.87 / Kindle $12.99

Against the Day: paper $12.35 / Kindle $12.99

Vineland: paper $10.98 / Kindle $11.99

The Crying of Lot 49: paper $10.98 / Kindle $9.99

Slow Learner: paper $9.52 / Kindle $9.99

8 COMMENTS

  1. Part of that may be the lack of competition. Other than slow learner, I don’t believe any of those books have been released as eBooks. I don’t know for sure, but they are probably Amazon’s personal scans that they’ve been authorized to sell.

    Somewhat amusingly, these scans are the worst quality in terms of eBooks. They are readable, but the text generally can’t be searched reliably as it is simply OCR.

    So it’s nice that the eBook is an option, but it’s not so nice that you pay more for reduced quality (and the publisher doesn’t stand behind the product).

  2. Irritating though it clearly is, the first thing to note is that this Mr Pynchon is perfectly free to price his eBooks at whatever level he choses.

    And in turn we readers are free to ignore the product of his toil as long as we like, until such time as his prices match his talent.

    I will be doing so for quite a considerable time, I feel.

  3. I’d like to say that Pynchon is generally considered one of the finest living writers, and usually the greatest living American author. Usually I’d be against pricing eBooks higher than their physical counterparts, but to ignore Pynchon’s work just on principle is silly. He truly is an amazing author.

  4. As others have said, Pynchon is an A list author, and perhaps the most respected living American author. Reread last sentence if you missed the point. There prices are about what I’d expect for such a major writer.

    I think it’s a bit unfair to compare against the discount price instead of the MSRP. Gravity’s Rainbow is $21.00

  5. Why would it be unfair to compare the two actual prices paid for access to the same text?

    Also, even if you “expect” the prices, how does that justify them? V. is a 50-year-old book selling for $12.99

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