The following is an amusing and well placed curse upon those who shoplift from bookstores...heaven knows in this economy, most bookstores are struggling to stay open and really can't afford to lose money to the light-fingered Louis out there.
Another warning sign possibility is a "curse of uncertain origin." I
found it in "People who steal books
http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz8087443
A 2001 article by
E.C. Abbott in the Canadian Medical Association Journal:
For him that stealeth a book from this library, let it change into a
serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck by palsy and all his
members blasted. Let him languish in pain, crying aloud for mercy and
let there be no surcease to his agony till he sink to dissolution. Let
bookworms gnaw his entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not and when
at last he goeth to his Final Punishment, let the flames of Hell consume
him for ever and aye.
Meanwhile, it appears that Amazon.com, which doesn't have to worry about theft because they're an online bookseller, is doing extremely well in this terrible economy, via GalleyCat on MediaBistro:
Amazon's Net Income Up 28 Percent in Q1
Since Amazon.com, Inc. released the Kindle 2 and Kindle iPhone application in the first quarter of 2009, net sales have risen 18 percent to $4.89 billion. In contrast, net sales were $4.13 billion during the first quarter of 2008.
Net income increased even more, the company announced today, jumping 24 percent in the first quarter of 2009, totaling $177 million. Book watchers should pay attention to second quarter results, as they will include any side-effects from the Twitter protests sparked by "a ham-fisted cataloging error."
In the release, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos attributed the first quarter gains to the company's digital reader: "We're grateful and excited that Kindle sales have exceeded our most optimistic expectations."
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