> Like I said, a book like that is supposed to be kept under seal until
> release date. Obviously the seal was porous, so it'd be interesting
> to know how it happened.
>
> Long ago The Nation got sued for breaking an embargo on, hmm, was it
> Gerald Ford's memoirs or something. The suit got thrown out, but it
> was a bit of a coup for the NYT to get a copy.
I'm surprised this doesn't happen more. I've had a copy of this book since Wed. the 20th but I haven't made a point to get to it yet. Woodward isn't a high priority for me.
I received the book free since it was damaged and headed for the trashcan. A B&N employee I know thought it looked "like something I would read" and gave it to me rather than add it to the local landfill. I receive a large number of books with minimal damage this way. Officially the company forbids this practice but in reality it happens quite a bit.
I'm sure an employee of B&N or Borders would be happy to sneak a copy out for $200. The books aren't locked up or anything. They just sit on a few shelves or stacked in boxes in a receiving area.
On rare occasion an employee will shelve the book early because they had a space to fill and didn't pay attention to the signs listing a shelving date for a title.
The people actually responsible for keeping the strict on-sale date are the lowest paid employees along the books path to the consumers hand. That's why I'm surprised it doesn't happen more.
John Thornton