International Orders and Reading Skills

For my ongoing Books of the World challenge, on June 1st I ordered seven books from IPS Publications in Fiji. On June 8th, DHL made a delivery attempt, and I was able to get the package on June 9th.

I spent the morning of the 9th marveling that a box of books could get to Oregon from Fiji in a week.

When I opened the package, the cost listed was about twice as much as their stated prices (online and in the confirmation e-mail) for goods and shipping. I sent an inquiry to them (which bounced back) and the shipper (University of the South Pacific Book Centre, another Fijian seller/publisher with an overlapping inventory) and took screen shots of the posted prices and shipping rates on both sites in case I had to pursue it through my credit card. Even allowing for fluctuating currency exchange, one does not want to pay $94 for a paperback on traditional medicine of the Marshall Islands. "Caveat emptor," I thought.

In fact, "caveat lector." The mystery was solved within a few hours by a kind e-mail from Fiji. A tiny sentence in the invoice reads "NB BILLED IN FJD EQUIVALENT TO USD," which initially cryptic but ultimately intelligible phrase means "N.B.: Billed in Fiji Dollars Equivalent to US Dollars." I'd read it (quickly) as meaning the reverse--that FJD had been expressed on the invoice as USD. I am very fortunate that even in a lousy economy, $140 is cause for annoyance, not alarm.

Some are faintly mildewed, but a month in the freezer should take care of it. It's exciting to have a set of related but distinct books (3 poetry, 1 ethnography, 1 sociology, 1 memoir, and 1 medical reference) from from countries and other governments that I don't encounter very much.

The quality of the writing is also varied, but if I were reading only for high quality I'd just buy more Pamuk and be done. Part of the pleasure of the Books of the World game is the different voices, and wondering how the work was received in its own community, and what the author is doing now. Yes, it smacks of the Intentionalist Fallacy, but I like to know about the authors' lives and intentions.