"The Collected Novels of Jose Saramago" - Amazon FINALLY matches Sony's price!

[Brendan Moody]

A small warning to anyone considering picking this up: despite the product description listing Saramago's All the Names as one of the included books, it isn't actually there. The collection's still a great deal even at full retail, let alone for a mere $6.60, but it's eleven novels and a novella rather than twelve and a novella.

[caleb72]

Wow! Picked this up.
I've never read this author, but I now have a very good excuse to try him out.

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by Brendan Moody

A small warning to anyone considering picking this up: despite the product description listing Saramago's All the Names as one of the included books, it isn't actually there. The collection's still a great deal even at full retail, let alone for a mere $6.60, but it's eleven novels and a novella rather than twelve and a novella.

Thanks, Brendan. I see on the product page you reported this to Amazon. How did you report this? (A particular form or just an email?)

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by caleb72

Wow! Picked this up.
I've never read this author, but I now have a very good excuse to try him out.

Me, too! For once my waiting for a lower price paid off. lol

[Brendan Moody]

Originally Posted by NightBird

Thanks, Brendan. I see on the product page you reported this to Amazon. How did you report this? (A particular form or just an email?)

I used the Feedback form near the bottom of the page, inside the blue box, marking it as a quality/formatting problem because that seemed like the best of the options. I got a form response from a customer service rep saying they'd ask the catalog team to fix the description. Maybe they will, maybe they won't; I used the same form for a print book a while ago, and that inaccurate description is still there.

I also sent an e-mail to the address listed on the publisher's website for books with typos or defects. If I hear anything interesting from them I'll give an update.

[Dr. Drib]

A bargain at $20, which is what I paid, if my memory is correct.

At just a little under $7, this is an absolute must-have if you enjoy literature of the highest quality.

This is one of those ebook I don't regret having paid $20.


Don

[NightBird]

Originally Posted by Brendan Moody

I used the Feedback form near the bottom of the page, inside the blue box, marking it as a quality/formatting problem because that seemed like the best of the options. I got a form response from a customer service rep saying they'd ask the catalog team to fix the description. Maybe they will, maybe they won't; I used the same form for a print book a while ago, and that inaccurate description is still there.

I also sent an e-mail to the address listed on the publisher's website for books with typos or defects. If I hear anything interesting from them I'll give an update.

Thanks, Brendan. I really think it is a publisher problem, as they have the same description at their website.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by Brendan Moody

A small warning to anyone considering picking this up: despite the product description listing Saramago's All the Names as one of the included books, it isn't actually there. The collection's still a great deal even at full retail, let alone for a mere $6.60, but it's eleven novels and a novella rather than twelve and a novella.

Interesting because the book I picked up from Amazon some time ago with exactly the same title has All the Names included. In fact when I just clicked on NightBird's link up thread for the book and Amazon tells me I purchased it on July 23 2011, so Amazon thinks it's the same book. ??????

[Brendan Moody]

That is interesting. It's definitely not in the file they're selling now, nor is All the Names mentioned in the section where copyright information for the individual books is given. It is, however, mentioned in the "Novel Descriptions" section, and in Ursula Le Guin's introduction. (Check the Kindle sample to see what I mean.) Possibly the publisher had to remove All the Names for some reason, and forgot to update the front matter and product description? The Nook sample is identical in this respect, so it seems not to be an Amazon issue.

[jgaiser]

If changes were made, it's been since July 2011

All the Names

Translated from the Portuguese
by Margaret Juil Costa
A Harvest Book
Harcourt, Inc.
San Diego New York London
©José Saramago e Editorial Caminho SA 1997
English translation © Margaret Jull Costa 1999

[Brendan Moody]

In lieu of actually reading any of the e-books I own, I've continued to look into this. The Kobo sample of The Collected Novels... is formatted somewhat differently from the Kindle/Nook version, and if the table of contents is accurate, that Kobo version does include All the Names. So it looks like they reformatted the e-book sometime between July 2011 and now, and by accident or design removed All the Names along the way. Then the revised version got uploaded to Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but not to Kobo.

[koland]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

SONY:
http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/jos...00000000308436

AMAZON:
http://www.amazon.com/Collected-Nove...2584027&sr=1-1



Don

FYI - the Sony link has a $6.60 price, but now apparently gives you a Diane Duane book, instead.

[koland]

Originally Posted by Brendan Moody

That is interesting. It's definitely not in the file they're selling now, nor is All the Names mentioned in the section where copyright information for the individual books is given. It is, however, mentioned in the "Novel Descriptions" section, and in Ursula Le Guin's introduction. (Check the Kindle sample to see what I mean.) Possibly the publisher had to remove All the Names for some reason, and forgot to update the front matter and product description? The Nook sample is identical in this respect, so it seems not to be an Amazon issue.

I pre-ordered when it was announced - it is in my copy from Amazon. No update is showing in my Kindle library (but publishers aren't requires to make an update available to early purchasers). I checked my ReadNow copy and it is in there (so, the new version was not auto-updated to my account).

I did finally look at the TOC on the new Kindle edition - much nicer, although missing this one story (and it's been well excised, as it was mentioned on several pages that would have been in the sample, in the older edition).

It's also in the EPUB that the Philadelphia library has (I'll return it in a moment).

[jgaiser]

Too add to the confusion...

I had never had a copy downloaded onto my iPad with the Kindle app. Just tried it and All the Names is in that copy. So, either Amazon is serving two different versions of the same book or there is something extremely screwy going on.

[koland]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Too add to the confusion...

I had never had a copy downloaded onto my iPad with the Kindle app. Just tried it and All the Names is in that copy. So, either Amazon is serving two different versions of the same book or there is something extremely screwy going on.

Once purchased, you always get the same edition of the book (Amazon stores the ASIN and edition in their database and serves it from their server new, with drm added, each time - which is why letting you keep all your books in the cloud costs little in storage space to them, for items purchased there).

If a new version is released for the same ASIN, the publisher can either push it to new users (you'll get an email telling you an update is available), allow current users to update (no email, but you get an Update Available option for that book on the MYK page) or restrict the new edition to new purchasers only (which is what the publisher did here).

I don't disagree with them doing it, as I would not have wanted to accept an update, which is generally to fix missing info, formatting and spelling errors, add illustrations, etc, and received less than originally paid for.

When the publisher releases a lesser book (missing stories, removed illustrations, etc), that is when I think they should create a new Kindle edition (new ASIN) and disable the old one (but be required to leave it in the catalog, so you can see it if you click from the MYK page and still loan out if that is allowed).

For this book, the publisher chose to update in place, adding a lesser edition (but with better formatting and TOC) and didn't bother to even change the description of the book. So, all new purchasers don't get what is being advertised.