That's pretty evil, Jomama. I frequently walk into bookstores knowing what I want and buy it without even opening the cover. And I invariably read the blurb on the jacket when brousing and almost never leaf through the book.

But I cannot see what thrills youngsters would get out of the switch because it might be days or weeks before someone comes in and looks at the switched book.

I wonder if booksellers check to see if the book and the cover agree. Almost always they seem to just scan the barcode on the jacket. That would seem to me to be an excellent way to lose some valuable merchandise. I have a friend back in Denver whom I met in a bookstore, and I will write to her and ask her opinion.

But beyond that, it appears to me this is a good way for someone to get into legal trouble for attempted shoplifting even though completely innocent. It takes a pretty nasty person to put another person into jeopardy like that.


TEd