Nimble Books LLC » What’s New for Book-Lovers

W. Frederick Zimmerman gave 1 star to: A Dictionary of Modern English Usage

W. Frederick Zimmerman's Customer Reviews — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:16:37 +0000

A Dictionary of Modern English Usage: The Classic First Edition (Oxford World's Classics) by H. W. Fowler

Five dead fishes to Oxford U. Press: book printed upside down!, February 28, 2010

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When my copy arrived, I discovered it is literally printed upside down. The text on the binding points one way, the text on the interior pages points the other way.

Nice in a way to know that even the boffins at Oxford University Press can miss an enormous book-sized typo. Makes the rest of us feel a little better.

W. Frederick Zimmerman gave 4 stars to: The Essential P. G. Wodehouse Collection (96 works)

W. Frederick Zimmerman's Customer Reviews — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:44:24 +0000

W. Frederick Zimmerman reviewed:

The Essential P. G. Wodehouse Collection (96 works) by P. G. Wodehouse

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Essential? No. "Long", yes., February 16, 2010

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These are most of the Wodehouse works published before 1922 which, sadly, leaves out most of his best stuff and includes primarily juvenilia.

W. Frederick Zimmerman gave 5 stars to: Keller in Dallas

W. Frederick Zimmerman's Customer Reviews — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:42:20 +0000

W. Frederick Zimmerman reviewed:

Keller in Dallas by Lawrence Block

Hitherto unpublished Keller novella, February 16, 2010

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I was thrilled to find this novella, which is not available in printed form, at all, on the Kindle.

the Kindle formatting needs a careful proofing.

W. Frederick Zimmerman gave 5 stars to: Somebody Owes Me Money

W. Frederick Zimmerman's Customer Reviews — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:56:13 +0000

W. Frederick Zimmerman reviewed:

Somebody Owes Me Money by Donald E. Westlake

An unexpected gem from Westlake’s early years, February 8, 2010

This early Westlake novel has been reissued from the terrific Hard Case Crime imprint. Flashes of Westlake’s LOL-funny style shine through more frequently than I expected. Up to the standard of some of the Dortmunder novels.

W. Frederick Zimmerman gave 5 stars to: Somebody Owes Me Money

W. Frederick Zimmerman's Customer Reviews — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:56:13 +0000

W. Frederick Zimmerman reviewed:

Somebody Owes Me Money by Donald E. Westlake

An unexpected gem from Westlake’s early years, February 8, 2010

in praise of the ampersand

Fred Zimmerman — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:51:09 +0000

LOL.

the ampersand… stands for the word “and”, which if I were a symbol and I had to stand for something, would be a pretty damn good choice. Very optimistic and inclusive

via f | Cover.

W. Frederick Zimmerman gave 4 stars to: Game Change

W. Frederick Zimmerman's Customer Reviews — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:51:24 +0000

W. Frederick Zimmerman reviewed:

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by Mark Halperin

beautiful book design, good “access journalism”, February 1, 2010

As a professional book designer, I love the cover.

The book is a classic example of “access journalism”: unattributed “he was thinking that …” accounts of VIP meetings. If you believe it, great. Personally, I’d like to see an end to unattributed stories.

W. Frederick Zimmerman gave 4 stars to: Game Change

W. Frederick Zimmerman's Customer Reviews — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:51:24 +0000

W. Frederick Zimmerman reviewed:

Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by Mark Halperin

beautiful book design, good “access journalism”, February 1, 2010

As a professional book designer, I love the cover.

John Sargent awarded the Nimble Books Baton of Glory

Fred Zimmerman — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:29:01 +0000

Macmillan CEO has been awarded the Nimble Books Baton of Glory in honor of his superb service to the publishing industry in the recent Amazon-Macmillan tiff.

W. Frederick Zimmerman gave 2 stars to: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin & Hobbes) (v. 1, 2, 3)

W. Frederick Zimmerman's Customer Reviews — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:35:08 +0000

W. Frederick Zimmerman reviewed:

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes (Calvin & Hobbes) (v. 1, 2, 3) by Bill Watterson

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Inexcusably shoddy binding; budget in rebinding it, February 1, 2010

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The two stars are for the binding, which is inexcusably shoddy, especially in a $90 set.

The pages had become detached from the binding in volume I when I opened the box. I sent the whole set back, which was a nuisance and is the first time I have ever returned a book to Amazon as defective.

Now, with the second set, it is a month later and the pages have become detached from the binding again. Obviously, the fault on this is the publisher's, not Amazon's.

The content of the books, of course, is marvelous. Bill Watterson is a great artist and the Calvin and Hobbes collection is an artistic masterwork of the 20th Century that will be read and enjoyed for decades if not centuries to come.

It's ironic that I write this review at the fiery outset of the e-book war between Amazon and, well, everyone else, because this book is a magnificent example of 1) a p-book that would never, never, never work on the Kindle and 2) should never, never, never be priced at only $9.99. Indeed, I would argue that the e-book price should probably be higher than the price of the printed version, since there are so many new uses that become feasible on an e-reader with a high-res, landscape-capable color display.

Recommendation: either a) wait for the color e-book version or b) buy this set, but plan on having it rebound.