A little while ago I got to try out the new Sony e-reader and it’s very good. I hope e-books never replace hardcovers, but they could easily replace mass market paperbacks. I guess the Sony is similar to the Kindle (we don’t have the Kindle in Canada yet). The sony e-reader has a cover that really feels like a book.

The only problem is it’s way too freakin’ expensive. Maybe it’ll get cheaper.

But I was wondering if there would be any interest in getting one with a lot of Elmore Leonard novels already on it. Kind of like that mp3 player you can get with EL audio books preloaded.

There is a kind of e-book version I found with Ian Fleming novels here, but they only give you two books.

Would anyone else be interested in an e-reader with Elmore Leonard novels preloaded? Maybe a nice EL cover?

I personally hope that this kind of technology never replaces any kind of books.
While I am not a technophobe, I want to feel a real book in my hands. I would much rather buy, read, and have the books on a shelf.

But, I think it’s a good idea for those who want a different format.

Kind of like that mp3 player you can get with EL audio books preloaded.

I thought of giving such a gift to Elmore, but it would just sit in the drawer next to the iPod I didn’t buy him.

I’m about as techno-crazy as they come, and have read Joyce’s Ulysses on my iPhone, but there is nothing like a book.

John has actually got his own e-book, online, and it’s a great read so far.
The book comprises of several Flash Fiction works, a couple of short stories and some interviews.
I printed the whole thing off last night and have just finished the Flash Fiction section.
It’s really good.

Find it here.

Any thoughts, people?
Don’t be shy

Yeah, not too shabby.  Only got to read ‘Who’s Angie Dickinson’ so far, but it was a hoot. 
Thanks for the link Jade.

Will be coming back for more.

John, I see that you like to use the words ‘really’ and ‘pretty’ a lot.
Sounds like the vernacular I grew up on.

Scrum - 19 November 2008 04:13 PM

John, I see that you like to use the words ‘really’ and ‘pretty’ a lot.
Sounds like the vernacular I grew up on.

Did you grow up in upstate New York? It’s probably close vernacular to Montreal where I grew up. All those Mets fans coming to Jarry Park probably rubbed off.

I work in a bookshop and we had someone in who asked, “The e-book reader, can you print the books out?”
Missing the point slightly.

JohnMcFetridge - 19 November 2008 07:24 PM

Scrum - 19 November 2008 04:13 PM

John, I see that you like to use the words ‘really’ and ‘pretty’ a lot.
Sounds like the vernacular I grew up on.

Did you grow up in upstate New York? It’s probably close vernacular to Montreal where I grew up. All those Mets fans coming to Jarry Park probably rubbed off.

Grew up in Southern California, actually.  Migrated to upstate NY for a change of pace back in 2000.  The vernacular seems to jive pretty well with my SoCal roots.  How ‘bout that?

Japan is quite a good place to publish e-books; about 70 million people use thier mobile phones to surf the net everyday, many of them probably on long commutes, many of them reading.

Mieko Kawakami is a singer-songwriter, based not too far from me - in Osaka.
She wrote an e-book on her blog which attracted a lot of attention, 200,000 hits on one particular day. The book is called Chichi to Ran (Breasts and Egg), and is written in her choppy Kansai-regional dialect.
Early this year she actually bagged the Atukagawa Prize, a coveted award for new authors, for the book.
The book has been published (in traditional format), and has been selling well.

Not one for stuffy literary language: when she won the award, she said, “Mesanko, Ureshii” (I’m dead chuffed.)

I am in for the MP3 books it is nice to be sitting on the beach in jan. and not have to worry about getting suntan oil on the book and stain some of the pages. It is much easier to push play on any MP3 player put the ear buds in and lay there and listen. My wife disagrees with me all the time she loves to read the book not to listen to it.
Jay
Happy Holidays

I am old fashioned. I have books given to me in the thirties and forties, that are now wrapped air tight, and protected. I can pass these down to my great grandchildren. These books have signatures from my mother, father, uncles and aunts among others. I doubt that an ebook would suffice for this personal transference of love and kindness.

What kind of memories will an ebook hold?
Does it make a comfortable pillow?
Can I stand on several of them to reach the top shelf?
Can I scribble in the margin, chew on the corners, flip the pages, slam it shut and so on?

I write a book now and then, at this juncture in my life, (old age) I doubt that I will ever put my work on ebooks. Just not my taste. I might add, books are so beautiful and colorful at Christmas time, I wish people would hang them on the tree.

Sincerely, (not) just kidding. but I am still not going to do it.
Author of; A Beckoning from Paradise