A Common Reader

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A Common Reader was an American mail-order book catalogue established in 1986 by Alex Goulder and James Mustich, Jr. It was notable among general-interest book catalogues for its eclecticism, with large sections of each issue given over to obscure literary classics. The catalogue also had a reputation among its readers for the quality of its writing. The blurbs that accompanied each book entry were often highly erudite and evocative, and many of these were penned by Mustich himself or by his colleague Thomas Meagher.

A Common Reader appeared several times a year. The catalog was eagerly anticipated by nearly 70,000 readers. Many would dog-ear pages as they found new recommendations for books. Blogs which lament the death of "A Common Reader" often blame its demise on Amazon.com - that readers would receive the catalog, identify books they were interested in, but then buy from Amazon at a lower price instead of ordering from the Common Reader itself. This explanation remains suspect. There is a great residual sadness in the CR community now that the catalog has gone out of business, and many people lament its absence. Among these are readers whose gift certificates purchased around Christmas 2005 became worthless with the bankruptcy; while applauding the literary contributions of the catalog, some are still irked at that loss.

[edit] End of operations

As of January 27, 2006, the organization is out of business - there is no answer at their 800 number, and their web site yields only an empty page.

They have gone into bankruptcy - there was an auction of their stock and equipment on February 22, 2006 in Pleasantville, NY.[1].