Went to the big used bookstore in Portland and the bindings made me want to cry

I was at Powell's last weekend, just browsing the stacks like you do, and I swear half the hardcovers in the fiction section were falling apart. I'm talking about books from the 80s and 90s, not even that old, where the whole text block is just glued to the spine with what looks like hot glue. I picked up a copy of a Stephen King book and the whole thing just flopped open like a dead fish, the pages coming loose in my hand. It's such a shame because the covers are fine, but the guts are shot. They must have used the cheapest possible binding to save a few cents per copy back then. I ended up buying three of the worst ones for like five bucks total, just to see if I can give them a proper case binding at home. It's a fun challenge, but it's also kind of depressing to see how disposable they were made. Has anyone else tried rescuing these mass market glue bombs, and what's your method for getting all that old adhesive off without wrecking the paper?

3 comments

3 Comments

mila_murphy215d ago

Yeah, that dead fish feeling is the worst. I mean, michael_jenkins39 is right, it's the same cheap guts story with everything now.

drew555d ago

Flopped open like a dead fish" is the perfect way to put it. I've had that happen and just stared at the book like it betrayed me. My method for the glue is basically just picking at it for an hour like a sad monkey, getting little bits under my nails.

michael_jenkins395d ago

That "dead fish" feeling is everywhere now. You buy a tool or an appliance and the plastic casing is fine but the gears inside are cheap junk that strips in a year. They make the part you see last so you feel okay about the purchase, but the guts are built to fail. Books are just the same story on a shelf.