I actually got the book as a gift though I happen to know it cost $850.00...it was a gift from my in-laws honoring the completion of my dissertation on Salinger. If it helps to know, I spent plenty of rent worrying months in 80's after stopping a lucrative business career to teach and return to school. Only since l991 have I earned more than most poverty lines in most states, though not as much as when I stopped my business career in l982. But AK is right--I was boasting about possessions and I accept his knuckle rap as well as thank those who came to my defense, will