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© Copyright 2000, Jim Loy
I am a fan of Lois McMaster Bujold and her Miles Vorkoskigan series of science fiction books. A while back, I bought her book, Cordelia's Honor, not realizing that it contains Shards of Honor and Barrayar, which I had already read. It looked like a new book. I bought it at Barnes and Noble in Missoula. And I have not been back to Missoula, and have not been able to return the book.
This kind of thing happens a lot. Publishers reissue a book with a much different cover, and it looks like a new book. Normally I remember the title, and do not buy the reissue. Agatha Christie wrote quite a few books that came out under different titles in different countries. Later editions sometimes had the American title, sometimes the British title. Usually you had to thumb through the first pages to see what the other title was. Sometimes there was no clue what the other title was.
In my life, I have returned many dozens of books which I had accidentally bought twice.
Addendum: Good news. Barnes and Noble refunded my money, after over a year, even though that edition had gone out of print.
There is now another Miles Verkosigan book (Miles, Mystery & Mayhem) which is a reissue of older books (Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, and the short story Labyrinth). The amazon.com entry for this book gives two reviews which are complaints that people bought this without realizing that it is a collection of previously published stories. I was wary enough to read the inside cover.