Critical Delectation

Look, it's a Tuesday. The weekend is far off. It's winter. Spring seems like a long way off, too. You work hard. And no matter how impecunious you may feel—God knows most of us feel that way most of the time—you can afford a photography book. What better treat to give yourself on a Tuesday in the middle of the miserable winter? What else are you going to do, stuff your face with something you shouldn't eat? Don't do that. You're heavy enough already. Buy yourself a new pair of shoes? They'll just get ruined by road salt. No. What you need is a photography book. There is no better treat you can give yourself today. Am I right?

Of course I'm right. Here's what you do. Look over in the left-hand column, where our ads are. Scroll down. Sooner or later you'll get to a stack of book covers. Those are links to Amazon.com pages. Pick one. Click on it. And buy yourself a book. You should do it. Today.

Not to put too fine a point on this, but you should really do this not for you, but for us. We need you to pitch in and help support the site. If you buy a book on Amazon.com, we get a buck or two. It won't cost you anything at all—the price is the same to you whether you link from here or no. But we need that buck. It means something to us. It's a pat on the back, a word of cheer, a leg up, a supportive gesture.

So what you'll actually be doing is not buying a photography book for yourself, but helping to support your favorite website. (Okay, one of your favorites, then. But you're reading this, right?) So if your wife or husband—or, I don't know, mother, or tax accountant—asks you what in the hell you think you're doing buying yourself an expensive photography book on a Tuesday for no reason, you don't have to fall back on the time-tested I deserve it, dammit or the overly frank I wanted it. "Mike made me," you can say, smugly—and truthfully. I am making you. Go ahead, and blame it on me. It's my fault. Because you're a generous person and you're supporting T.O.P. That's why you're going to buy a photography book today. Right? It's not selfish. It's altruistic. It's not for you. And you shouldn't care who knows it. You're just doing your small part. I'm not kidding about this, either—you'll be doing us a very generous favor, one we will sincerely appreciate.

It'll be great. Just when you're on the cusp of forgetting that you ordered it, it'll come in a nice little brown box, and you'll have the evening to page through some cool new work or have something to read instead of wasting your time watching some damn game show or reality show on the idiot box that you will get absolutely nothing out of and that (let's be honest) you won't really enjoy all that much. (How many times can you watch "Deal or No Deal," honestly?) A photography book, that you will enjoy and get something out of. You know you will. A photography book will be just what you needed—inspiration, information, a new acquisition to be proud of, a fresh adornment for your shelves. And by the way, if you think you have no room on your shelves, pick the five worst books that have been hanging around your living room for way too long already and give them to your local library. And c'mon, don't make pathetic little excuses like that. You need a new photography book.

At the very least, look at the list of books, and click on the one you would buy today, if you were going to buy one. Just pretending. It's just an exercise. A game. Make a choice. Call it an act of critical delectation.

And then, buy it. You really should.

(There is no charge for the enabling.)

Posted by: MIKE, BPE (Book Purchase Enabler)

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Link to Amazon U.K. Here


Featured Comment: Mike,

A sweetener: some photo books are eligible for Amazon's current textbook promotion ($15 off $150). Eligibility seems arbitrary (The Americans and Real World Camera Raw, yes, but not Friedlander, nor Origins of Photojournalism).

A question: Your sidebar states "buying anything from Amazon..." Does that mean if I click on a link and buy something other than that specific book, you still get a commission?

Regards,
robert e, IMS (impecunious monitor-shopper)

BPE Replies to IMS: Indeedy we do. Thus, I can do monitor-purchase enabling, too.