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Sylvia Plath on ABEbooks.com

Anyone interested in books by and/or about Sylvia Plath would be doing themselves a favor by shopping for them online via ABEbooks.com. They have a lot to choose from, be it a reading copy from a mom & pop shop to replace one that got damaged in a sudden rain storm or a collectible book from a high end dealer that you are buying with your disposable income for me (haha), a sweetheart, for yourself or some other reasons…Remember, books are something that can be enjoyed in nearly any conceivable place, and they can also be a sound investment.

Sylvia Plath's works have frequently been mentioned on ABE's site, due in part both to her popularity as well as her collectibility. Who knows, they may even have a Plathophile on staff! I have been working slowly (sad, I know) on this post since 2011 and it seems to be the right time to finally post it.

Scott Laming over on ABEbooks.com, did a write up on “Bleak Books: The Top 10 Most Depressing Books”. Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar made number two! I do not know if congratulations are in order or if the people that voted are of a limited intelligence. Laming himself recognizes that Plath’s suicide just weeks after the novel’s publication has conflated the story told in the novel.

The Bell Jar has won some additional accolades on ABEbooks.com in the recent past; you may remember in May 2010 I posted that the first Faber edition of 1966 was listed as one of the top 50 iconic book covers. While I love the Faber cover, the original dust jacket is far more lovely and haunting.

Plath is a fairly regular feature author on ABEbook, The Colossus is one of the most precious poetry books, and The Bell Jar was also featured in Mental Illness in Fiction and Literary One Hit Wonders. Ariel was featured in Fabulous Faber and Faber: Eliot to Ishiguro.

There is also Plath’s childhood art - some of which happens to be for sale - was covered.

And Beth Carswell has also written, "Sylvia Plath, Novelist, Poet, Artist".

All make for interesting and informative reads.

These are just a few of the times Plath has been mentioned. By and large her greatest representation on the website is via the books and other items that are for sale. Set aside some money each pay period, save it up, and treat yourself to something nice this year. It is easy math, even for English majors: $50 a month will get you a $600 book by the end of the year. Go on, stop reading this blog and buy something.

All links accessed 16 July 2011 (!!) and 9 January 2014.

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