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Show Sat/Sun/Mon/Tues, October 1-4, 2005 The Park Record C-6 Used books are big bucks Park City Performing Arts Foundation Presents NEW YORK (AP) For as long as there has been a publishing industry, there have been used books, that supposedly quaint world of polymaths and antiquarians poking about musty, cluttered stores for titles few readers would know. But a landmark study released Wednesday confirms what publishers, authors and booksellers have believed - and feared - since the rise of the Internet: Used books have become a modern powerhouse, driven by high prices for new works and by the convenience of finding any title, new or old, without leaving your home. According to the Book Industry Study Group, used book sales topped $2.2 billion in 2004, an 11 percent increase over 2003. Much of that growth can be credited to the Internet. While used sales at traditional stores rose a modest 4.6 percent, they jumped 33 percent online, to just over $600 million. "I think consumers are increasingly starting to notice that they can get used books in good condition, in a timely manner," says Jeff Hayes, a director at InfoTrends. a market research firm that served as the principal analyst for the BISG study. More than 111 million used books were purchased last year, representing about one out of every 12 overall book purchases. By the end of the decade, the percentage is expected to rise to one out of 11, a troubling trend when sales for new works are essentially flat; authors and publishers receive no royalties from used buys. "Obviously, these are not statistics to warm the heart of publishers," says Simon & Schuster spokesman Adam Rothberg. The BISG. a nonprofit organization supported by publishers, " . . . r e m a r k a b l e . . . t h e music and the dance invG$he$(giV$$rfe<r$toftTf• • • THE MYSTICAL ARTS OF TIBET Perfiormance: SACRED M U S I C , SACRED D A N C E OCTOBER 8, 2005 Community Outreach: Falk makes 'Folks' little too familiar • • • • CREATION OF THE SAND MANDALA OCTOBER 3-9, 2005 ' 435-655-3114 www. ecclescenter. org Show starts at 7 : 3° p-ni. Tickets start at $15The Eccles Center is located at lJ^O Kearns Blvd., Park City' THE George 8. •&. Dolores Dare ECCLES CENTER booksellers and others in the sands of published authors. industry, reports that price is the "Because of used books, edugreatest appeal for choosing used cational publishers tried to make books over new ones. While hard- up for the loss by raising the covers often cost $25 and higher, prices of new ones and quickly used books purchased in 2004 issuing new editions to make old averaged $8.12 - except for text ones obsolete. We don't want to books, which averaged $42.31. see that cycle again for the The study will likely revive the nonacademic market." complaints of authors and publishThe size of the used book marers who say that online retailers ket has never been calculated are hurting new sales by aggres- before, and the industry study sively promoting used copies. On group report represents an unusuAmazon.com and eBay, for exam- al cooperative effort among the ple, used editions are often avail- leading used book retailers. able at the same time, or even Amazon.com, Alibris.com and before, a new book is released. eBay are among those who proThe industry, indirectly, may vided precise sales figures, usually even contribute to the problem; the dearest of industry secrets. Author signings for upcoming "There's a great deal of curiosreleases are a tradition at ity about this market. We all BookExpo America, publishing's know our own numbers, but we annual convention. But they also could only guess about our comlead to a wave of offerings on petitors," says Boris Wertz, COO eBay, publishers say. of Abcbooks.com, an online "I have made it clear that I do retailer that, according to Wertz, not like the signings at had used sales of more than $100 BookExpo," says Jane Friedman, million last year. CEO of HarperCollins. "The Sales from individual retailers author should at least make the were not provided by the BISG. signature personal, "Dear Jane.' so The BISG study raises other it's worth less to sell." questions, such as how publishers The BISG survey looks at both can respond to the used market. education and general markets. Friedman rejects the idea of lowThe cost of text books has long ering prices, but acknowledges been a matter of contention and that she has no specific solution. the BISG reports that educational "It's something we've looked at buys totaled an estimated $1.6 bil- for a long time," she says. lion - nearly all through tradiThe study also does not resolve tional stores - an increase of 8 1/2 a fundamental dispute over used percent over 2003. books; Are they hurting the marBut Hayes was more ket for new books, as many pubimpressed by the nearly $600 mil- lishers and authors believe? Or, as lion - much of that online - retailers say, do they simply ipent on noneducation books, a enable customers to acquire books they otherwise wouldn't 25 percent jump. "I think you may be seeing have purchased? consumer behavior changing," he "My sense is, excluding textsays. "It could become like going books, that at least half of used to the movies: 'Do you want to books sales come at the expense the see the movie in the theater or of books still in print," Hayes do you want to wait for the says. DVD?' The 'DVD' is available a "But there may be an upside, lot faster now." because a consumer might buy a "One of our cautionary tales is used book by a certain author, what happened in the textbook and like it enough to buy the industry," says Paul Aiken, execu- author's next book. So at this tive director of the Authors point, the impact is hard to Guild, which represents thou- quantify." . " #!• By LISA KENNEDY MediaNews Group Wire Service There's an easy familiarity to "The Thing About My Folks" that makes this at times touching semi7comedy a little too familiar. It isn't merely the joke rhythm of the title. (Can't you just hear star Paul Reiser deliver those words and then follow up with a riff about Mom and Dad?) It's that we know the subgenre all too well. Call it the family-therapy film. The more we see such movies, the less likely they are to pack the wallop the trotting out of family traumas should. Middle-aged kids reckoning with their folks as adults? Been there, seen that. Thank goodness for Peter Falk, who plays Sam Kleinman. And kudos to Reiser {writer and producer) for knowing for years he wanted to create a character - this character - for the actor. When Sam arrives at son Ben's home, he's Mr. Congeniality, ready to play with his granddaughters. Only it's late and Sam never visits without his better half. So Ben (Reiser) correctly goes dn high alert. "I'm leaving," reads the note Muriel Kleinman (Olympia Dukakis) left her husband of 47 years. "I need to be somewhere else, and I need to be alone." That's it. No forwarding address. Mom left Dad, Ben tells one of his three sisters on the phone. Her response is wincingly priceless and reveals that a long-lasting marriage isn't always a joy ride. More pointed evidence comes as Ben hunts through a closet, pulls out an envelope addressed to Sam. Muriel wrote this letter too. If the first letter shook Sam's foundations, Bens demeanor as he stuffs it into a briefcase suggests the second missive is likely to raze the house or at least force major renovations on his old man. With his sisters charged with figuring out where Mom has escaped to. Ben is left babysitting Dad. On the return leg of what will become the film's father-son road trip through New England countryside. Ben forces the letter on his dad. Whoops. In one defensive outburst, Falk leaves Lt. Columbo in the dust of Sam's frustrated fury. He froths and stomps. There are two sides to every marriage, and he has got some points of his own. This scene is just one reminder why Falk was a go-to actor in the John Cassavetes* school of truths and consequences. Even with the womenfolk out of the picture (Dukakis makes a late, grounding appearance), this film will never be mistaken for "Husbands." Still, two men of very different generations coming to understand and appreciate each other makes for some fine moments. And that's just the actors. far the Performing Arts Generously Sponsored By: Anon}'.'mo us Please Join Us! Community Outreach Schedule All Sand Mandala Events are free and open to the public. The sand painting takes place in The Eccles Center lobby. SAND MANDALA EVENTS Opening Ceremony Oct. 3, 5:30 p.m. Creation of the Mandala by the Monks Oct. 4 " 7 (iO a.m. - g p.m.) Oct. 8 (iO a.m. - 3 p.m.) Closing Ceremony Oct. 9, II a.m. (procession at noon) the rolling stones issue, at all your favorite hangouts September 22. NOTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW. EVERYTHING YOU CAN'T RESIST. |