Shoplifting at book stores is on the rise. Steve Bercu, owner of BookPeople in Austin, Texas, said the most frequently stolen book is the Bible. "Some people think the word of God should be free," he said.
Bibles are even snatched at the Parable Christian Bookstore in Springfield, Oregon, despite the fact that if someone asks for a Bible, they will be given one free.
The New York Times Book Review, December 20, 2009
Some twenty years ago I ended working in the book trade for twenty years.
ReplyDeleteDuring those years it appears the Bible was the most commonly stolen book.
Good to have traditions, don't you think?
I had always thought the most frequently stolen book was the Guinness Book of Records. This article went on to say that young males are the most frequent shoplifters. They steal books by authors like Martin Amis, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, Don DeLillo, and Jack Kerouac. One bookstore manager said, "Young men think its an existential rite of passage to steal their homeboy."
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