We recently ordered two books from online sellers (at the great price of one penny plus $3.50 postage!): Miracles in America by Sheila Kohler and Darling by William Tester. Inside each book we found a few gems.
Inside Miracles, there were two items: a Xeroxed flyer for a religious gathering…
and stationary from Gordon Lish’s desk at Knopf, with a note signed by book’s author..
I Darling, we found a blank piece of Lish stationary…
These look like complement copies, that editors and authors send out to people they believe would strategically help spread the word around, people in the acknowledgement page, close friends, etc.
Both these books came from different online sellers across the country, yet showed up thew same day. We have discovered such gems in randomly purchased books before, sometimes photos belonging to the author, copies once owned by someone famous, and so on…it’s all in the fun.
Gordon Lish Edited This 