ABE Behaving Badly?!?!

In a self-serving announcement in one of its newsletters, ABE announces:

"Books Behaving Badly

"Here at Abebooks, we don't like censorship. So every year, we celebrate Banned Book Week by showcasing the books that are challenged or banned each year - and encouraging you to read any book you please."

As someone who has been banned/censored several times from ABE's booksellers' discussion forum, all I can say is, What total hypocrisy!

For example, the moderators of ABE's bookseller forum banned the use of the term "fagin" (one can but assume because there are those who believe Dicken' character, fagin (from Oliver Twist) was anti-semitic (a much-debated characterisation).

But, it allowed the term within descriptions of the books listed on its site. Likewise a variety of four-letter words were banned from use on the forum, but freely found in titles and descriptions of books found in its listings.

As a more recently banned/censored ABE booksller, Austen Redmond, notes, "I am no longer able to post on ABE forums, They have objected to me opposing various attacks on homosexuality & opposing [another seller's] s posts about incest."

And this from another, "I think a big part of why I was banned is that I asked ABE a question, if there were Homophobes running the chat forum or something? That was just before my first banning. I never received a straight answer from them and would leave for their unprofessional conduct, but they sell my books and I am cash challenged.

"I agree they are not even-handed with their rules on obscenity. It comes down to their fear of [fundamentalist Christians]. There are enough extremes in human behavior without special interests touting these extremes as "The One and True Way"."

ABE is no longer the book collector's friend. ABE is no longer the bookseller's friend. ABE is simply one more in the ever-growing, hypocritical, multi-national corporate entity.

I've said it before and will say it again, always buy direct from the independent bookseller. Among other things, you'll get more honest responses to any questions you might have and you'll very often save money as opposed to what you'll pay if you buy through ABE.