Madam, - Pursing the theme of ripped-off consumers, Sadbh (Weekend Review, March 8th) contributes her jolt on book prices. Following visits to several bookshops in her area, she quotes discrepancies unlikely to shock regular buyers.
Her advice: shop around. Apart from those unconcerned about what they pay this is a habit they are acquiring.
Among examples quoted is Michael Moore's Stupid White Men, currently number one among the Republic's non-fiction paperbacks. This, she reports, was marked €12.70 in Dubray. In Waterstones it was €10 but as part of a three-for-two promotion. Curiously, she apparently wasn't even tempted to take a few more strides, which would have enabled her to find it as €7 in Reads of Nassau Street.
It's puzzling why any investigation into book prices should exclude Reads, whose policy of discounting 30 per cent off all books, supported by an advertising campaign on radio, must be familiar to most buyers. Yes; it pays to shop around - literally and literarily. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL CARR, Mount Merrion Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.