To tell you the truth, no one at the Mises Institute had fully appreciated how fantastic the pocket paperback of Human Action would be in its final form. Even during the period in which we were doping it out and looking at technical issues regarding its production, we couldn’t fully anticipate what the final would look like and feel like. But it became obvious to us yesterday when the first shipment came in. I imagined myself doing a slow-motion leap into the air with arms outstretched, like those people you see in drug commercials after they’ve taken their allergy medicine or something.
The first thing you notice is its sheer efficiency as a medium. The pages are thin but not Bible thin, so you need not fear tearing them. The text is smaller but it does not strain the eye. The weight a hefty but not too much so. The size is just like what you want in a pocket edition. It fits in right your hand.
Still, there is something else about this edition that brings joy. I think Lew Rockwell puts his finger on it here: he points out that the format takes away that intimidation element of the book. It opens it up and makes the whole text immediately accessible. It is Human Action for the masses. I think he is right here. This is the real power of the pocket edition. It presents this sixty-year old book in a completely new and immediate way. It causes a person to rethink the very idea of the book itself.
It is no longer a huge treatise that bends the shelf and scolds you for failing to carefully read all 1,000 pages. It is now friendly and fun, something that speaks to us in an everyday sort of way. You don’t have to dress up to read it. You can stay in your jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. You can read it anywhere, any time of the day. It’s right for reading on the subway, in the coffee shop, or just waiting for the bus.
It’s almost like the inauguration of a new era for a timeless masterpiece.
{ 19 comments }
Don’t sell it too hard, Mr. Tucker! You’ll make me regret purchasing my regular-sized scholar’s edition–which is quite excellent itself, by the way.
I’m trying to organize a reading group for Human Action in Orlando this coming Spring, and accessibility is such a huge benefit. Members will get to choose whether to read it online, purchase the $10 pocket edition, or purchase the $20 regular-sized version. AND I’ll have Murphy’s study guide to help bring structure and clarity to our discussions. Keep up the incredible work, you Misesians!
Not selling. Just talking! This thing is too great not to blog about constantly.
I’ll make you a deal. Come out with a pocket-sized version of Rothbard’s MES, and I’ll purchase both!
Seriously, though. Does the institute have any similiar plans for MES?
Thanks in advance!
Well, we never would have imagined such a thing a week ago, but the response to this has been fantastic. And frankly, we had no idea just how great a product this would be until we saw it yesterday. So I suppose the answer is yes, knock on wood. We have to make ends meet and we are still waiting to see if this one is what we think it is.
don’t forget the discount for bulk purchases!
But we can still dress up to read it if we want to, right?
Ha, ha, ha!
Yes, indeed, just look at Jeffrey’s pictures who -in as blatant a case of do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do as I’ve ever seen- just wrote: “You don’t have to dress up to read it. You can stay in your jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers.” Show, don’t tell Jeff!
Christoph, in jeans, t-shirt but no sneakers at the foot of the Mont-Pelerin
On a somewhat-related note, has the Mises Institute considered getting in on Amazon Prime? I admittedly have no idea how a business joins it and where shipping costs are absorbed. But if it hasn’t been looked in to yet, it should. I can only imagine how much sales would increase if we got free two-day shipping on books like these. Shipping costs are what prevent me from buying a book here and there.
Word.
bookdepository.com — free shipping, worldwide.
This really is an amazing achievement. While the .epub edition serves much the same purpose, nothing replaces an actual book. To be able to carry this essential work around on a daily basis brings me much joy.
I’m trying to conjure up a situation where I’d need to quickly reference the full version of Human Action in my daily life to necessitate a pocket edition.
No need to think to hard. It’s like a cell phone. You think you don’t need it and then you wonder how you ever lived without it. You will see what I mean when you hold it in your hand.
I am envisioning highly educated, thoughtful, and alert citizens in a culturally rich civilization. Wow, “Human Action” has the power to elevate humankind!
Any PDF file online?
http://mises.org/resources/3250
It hasn’t changed. This book is the same book it has always been, only physically smaller in dimension.
Remember John Allison, the former CEO/Chairman of the bank BB&T? He has this initiative where he funds chairs for the study of capitalism at various universities and sees that Atlas Shrugged is given away to students. So why not Human Action Pocket Edition? I’m sure he can buy tons of it from LvMI and have this great pocket version of THE magnum opus in economics to flood campuses.
Looks like my lunchtime reading material is set! (I never wanted to risk dripping mustard on the Scholar’s edition.) But don’t neglect the audio version. Perfect for those otherwise wasted hours spent in the daily commute. With his superb voice, Jeff Riggenbach could read the phone book and make it sound profound. On Human Action his work transcends.
tomorrow morning i am ordering 5 copies to give to friends and relatives, i’m part way through reading the book via my phone’s 3.1″ widescreen display, and it could be a little better on my eyes, it’s fine mostly but when i’m on the bus or when a train is really travelling it moves around so much i lose track all the time. i probably will not have finished reading it before i get my copies, so i’m gonna order one extra for myself too. it’s truly a work of genius, i wish i’d stumbled onto it a long time ago, so much suffering in my life could have been averted. the interesting thing is that understanding praxeology does not just apply to buying and selling, it really has relevance to general human exchange altogether, ideas mostly don’t have dollar value but people exchange their attention for hearing ideas, and like silver, a long deliberately suppressed price is bounding upwards from the depths that the keynesian interventionists tried to bury it.
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