The Purple Runner Is Home
Posted on Apr 09, 2008 under Running Books | 2 CommentsMy librarian friend has worked her book preservation-restoration magic and The Purple Runner is back in my hands. There was very little she could do to make it much better, but it’s serviceable and fit enough for reading. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for a copy in better shape in the future, but this copy will suffice for reading the story –finally!
I’ve only just started reading it and I like it fine so far. I’ll have a bit more to say on it as I go along, I’m sure.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
I can tell you that as an original owner of a copy of TPR…it does have a tendency to fall apart!
I do take pretty good care of my books, but the glue holding the cover to the spine dried up totally and several leaves got loose.
I admit to resorting to clear packing tape to reinforce it. But it still reads like a charm!
Hudson
April 14th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
According to my friend, the librarian, The Purple Runner was bound using a technique called (euphemistically, in my opinion) “perfect binding,” so I guess it’s predisposed to eventually falling apart. I mean, it’s not like publishers can know which titles will become enduring cult favorites and bind them to last longer, huh?
Yeah, she had to do a number on my copy. She carefully removed the transparent tape and replaced it with special tape that’s supposed to be kinder to the paper, then she wrapped the whole thing in a cover of the same type of adhesive material. It’s not perfect, but it should hold up.