/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.2260820]

Stealing books - the gentlemanly crime.

Haven't had one of these threads in a while. Your exploits, /lit/?

>implying you haven't filched paperbacks from crummy second hand book stores

[Postrider !!IFhYmPq4mXS No.2260823]

I have never done this, but it seems like an interesting thing. Pirating kindle books I can do, but stealing a physical copy I haven't tried yet...

Inb4 pirating vs stealing

[Anonymous No.2260824]

Uh, yeah, no. Stealing a 1.50 copy of Animal Farm from a bookstore that makes almost no significant revenue isn't something a "gentleman" would do.

Try again, OP. This time, work the gray matter.

[Anonymous No.2260825]

i used to steal from the library an absolute shit-ton back in elementary school and junior high.

>mfw when I have the entire redwall series until 1998.

[Anonymous No.2260832]

I would never do that, I follow the categorical imperative.

[Anonymous No.2260834]

>>2260832
me too.

[Anonymous No.2260836]

I've befriended the local independent bookstore proprietors: one of them is teaching me how to bind and repair antiquarian texts and the other gives me great recommendations and free books all the time.

[Anonymous No.2260837]

I only ever stole one single book, some 10 years ago.

Afterwards I felt so bad about it I couldn't even bring myself to read it.

[Anonymous No.2260841]

nigga what could possibly motivate me to physically steal a book. I already have 92,000 books on my hard-drive and will never be in want of one for the rest of my life. I ain't winona ryder. shit.

[Anonymous No.2260888]

>have a look at my parents bookshelf
>half of the books have library stamps
the fuck?

[Anonymous No.2260893]

>implying emma watson has read anything besides harry potter scripts

[Anonymous No.2260894]

>>2260888

either they're discards that were sold at library book sales or you're the issue of kleptomaniacs and should be chemically castrated

[Anonymous No.2260900]

>>2260893
>implying I wouldn't give my life just so i can sniff her asshole

[Anonymous No.2260904]

>>2260893

In all likelihood, and I write this with all sincerity, she's probably better read than you are.

[Anonymous No.2260920]

books were the main thing in my childhood I have stolen, now i just take books from girlfriends and never return them hehehehe

[Anonymous No.2260923]

>>2260920
That means you're a cunt mate.

[Anonymous No.2261001]

>>2260825

[Anonymous No.2261007]

>>2260904

What makes you say that? Child actors often receive really sub-par on-set education. I'd be surprised if she could even name any decent authors, let alone if she had read them.

[Anonymous No.2261008]

Next up we'll have

>Burning books - the educated fire.
>Your exploits, /lit/?
>>implying you haven't set fire to the fiction wing of your crummy local library

[Anonymous No.2261009]

I stole Tao Lin, Samuel Beckett and Mervyn Peake from the Harvard Bookstore last week.

I swear, shoplifting is the best crime anyone can commit.

[Anonymous No.2261012]

>>2261007

She got into Harvard didn't she?

[Anonymous No.2261015]

>>2261009

They're all dead, and you stole from Harvard.

I'm okay with this.

[Anonymous No.2261016]

>>2261012

Brown. Famous morons get into the Ivy League all the time, though.

[Anonymous No.2261018]

I'm afraid of getting caught. The bitch on the counter rubs in to de magnify the thing but at a closer inspection I can't find the tag.

Also, opinions on swapping price tags?

[Anonymous No.2261019]

>>2261007

>After moving to Oxford with her mother and brother, Watson attended The Dragon School until June 2003 and then moved to Headington School, also in Oxford. While on film sets, Watson and her peers were tutored for up to five hours a day. In June 2006, Watson took GCSE examinations in 10 subjects, achieving eight A* and two A grades.
After leaving school, Watson took a gap year to film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows beginning in February 2009, but said she "definitely want[ed] to go to university". The Providence Journal reported that Watson had confirmed that she had chosen Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island. In March 2011, after 18 months at the university, Watson announced that she was deferring her course for "a semester or two", to give her more time to participate in the advertising buildup for the release of the second Deathly Hallows film, and other projects. It has since been announced that Watson will be continuing her studies in autumn, reportedly on an exchange programme to Worcester College, Oxford, and that she will complete her final year at Brown University.

[Anonymous No.2261021]

>>2261019
>The Dragon School

BOSS AS FUCK

[Anonymous No.2261026]

stolen a copious amount of books from school

catcher in the rye, of mice and men, to kill a mockingbird, every lord of the rings, silmarillion, sabriel series by garth nix, lot of james patterson books, and a buncha other shit, our librarian always chilled in the back on the computer

[Anonymous No.2261034]

I've stolen and thrown away more books than I've bought and know plenty about the slow destruction of the literary art. Ask me anything

[Anonymous No.2261195]

>>2261034
Where would you steal a book? And how do you work?

[Anonymous No.2261201]

Only book I ever stole was about logic, it was worth like 30€. Mostly did it because I didn't want to die without having stolen a book. And the book was cool.

[Anonymous No.2261217]

i've only stolen one book, and that's because it was the only copy i had ever seen at the bookstore and it was like $35.

[Anonymous No.2261227]

>>2261018
>I can't find the tag
Oh dear, don't even try to steal anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZPx8APsX30
look at the top comment.

[Anonymous No.2261235]

I stole about 10, Nietzsche, Woolf, Fitzgerald, etc. from my school library.
I've stolen a moleskin notebook (24.00 lol) and probably over $250 of fiction from chapters. Have stolen from a used bookstore.
Planning on stealing a bigger moleskin because the one I need is 30.00 and my space right now is running out.

[Jeff Mangum Died For Your Sins !rAl8Mz2mp2 No.2261251]

>stealing physical property
If you want a book that badly, pirate it.

[Anonymous No.2261261]

>>2260820
Yes. I've 'borrowed' books from libraries, and then 'forgot' to return them. No need to do it nowadays.

[Anonymous No.2261294]

So many moralfags here.

I worked for Borders and went off with books all the time. Was especially glorious to order in expensive rare or academic titles and just walk out with them after closing up.

I made off with BOXES full of books when the stores were being shut down. Wasn't going to let some ingrate peasant have good books just because they were 40% off.

[Anonymous No.2261299]

>>2261195
Bookshops, generally, on account of them having lots of books. (Avoid libraries, they tag shit). Method-wise, find books, conceal them in a bag, walk out.

[Anonymous No.2261301]

>>2261294
Did you just pull up a car to the back and walk off with them? When I worked at a magazine that did reviews, I would sometimes order books and take them home. Nowadays, I just pirate onto my Kindle. Much easier. Owning books gets a little silly when you read as much as we do. I don't have the space or the time to own books. I read them once and then put them down. Libraries and Kindles seem much more suited to this kind of reading.

[Anonymous No.2261303]

>>2261294
>I stole copiously from my employer
>My employer went bankrupt

The more I learn about the people who worked at Borders, the more I think it was an act of justice that it folded.

[Anonymous No.2261306]

>>2261303

Yeah, if they didn't have adequate security in place they got what they deserved.

[Anonymous No.2261318]

chapters' wooden security blocks at the door literally do nothing. they don't tag anything. and it would be so easy for them to

[Anonymous No.2261329]

LOL

itt: pussies that don't dare to steal and come up with self-defeating arguments to hide their fear to do it

ebooks? "stealing" from the school library? «i've stolen one book in my life»? categorical imperative?

bunch of fags. half my library is stolen from big stores. if you think it is wrong, go buy a bible. if you're afraid, keep paying 10 times the price of what you buy.


i always take 1 or two books for each book i buy. i was scared at first, the 1st time i did it my heart was coming out of my mouth... but one you beat your own fear it is easy as fuck. you never know how much things work based on fear or moral.

(of course one has to take precautions, but the real danger is to show your fear)

[Anonymous No.2261340]

>>2261329
I don't mind paying for a book I like or one I know I'll enjoy, and I can afford it.

There is zero reason for me to steal. It's not an issue of morality. It's an issue of giving credit where it's due, and showing appreciation through monetary value.

[Anonymous No.2261343]

>>2261329

Right on. Bet everyone here against taking books has a shit tonne of CDs and films they've downloaded and "stolen." Bunch of hypocrites.

Best places are those stores that leave books outside for you to pick up and pay for. To hell with that!

[Anonymous No.2261344]

>>2261340
the fact that i steal them does not mean i can not afford it.

and i think your arguments for paying your books are pretty much morality itself; which ain't wrong. i do pay books when i buy them on local small bookstores an so. but i mainly get my books from big shops.

[Anonymous No.2261345]

A few weeks ago, I was walking to class at my university and a strange man approached me. He told me he was in some sort of "order" and that he travels the world selling books at whichever price you would like to buy them for. It scared me at first and I didn't talk to him for long before leaving
but
I'm beginning to think that he was pretty smart.
>steal books from some place
>sell them downtown or around "intellectual" places like university.
>use the money to do it again in another place.

[Anonymous No.2261347]

>>2261343
yeah, but they put all the crappy books outside and usually theyre cheap as fuck. its almost an injunction to steal them.

[Anonymous No.2261349]

>>2261318
Unless you know for sure they don't tag, those security things don't always get maintained, end up broken, and don't get replaced. Many shops and libraries have blind spots where there are broken security things just for show (i.e. it can seem like they do shit, but it just looks like that due to luck.)

[Anonymous No.2261354]

I only steal books from big corporate bookstores like Indigo (canadafag here) and from my university bookstore. I also stole a bunch of books from my high school that were on reading lists because I knew they had extra copies.

Actually, I once stole a copy of Esslin's "Theatre of the Absurd" from a small second hand bookstore, but I bought like 4 other books at the same time. I still felt really bad about it, though.

I generally steal classics, textbooks, and older comics/manga/graphic novels. I pay for anything by a currently working Canadian writer, or for anything very recent not written by a celebrity author. Also I like to pay for books by people who are discussing issues that I find particularly important, especially in science the humanities.

>>2261318
Beware! They sometimes tag the hardcovers.

[Anonymous No.2261362]

Kindle books sure, it's a victimless crime. I wouldn't steal from a store, especially a struggling one.

One store tried selling a book on Latin(second hand mind you) at $30. Fuck that, found it online.

[Anonymous No.2261369]

>>2260820
Is it possible to have background pictures on ereaders? I want to use this one so bad.

[Anonymous No.2261372]

>>2261362
>piracy
>victimless crime

And /lit/ claims to be one of the smarter boards...

[Anonymous No.2261375]

>>2261372
Piracy is a library with no return policy.

[Anonymous No.2261376]

>>2261372
TO clarfiy: Not a crime.

[Anonymous No.2261389]

>>2261227
Why, does he talk, like, William Shatner?
He takes, TEN seconds to, say what should take, 3 seconds to say.

[Anonymous No.2261398]

I pirate educational books. Knowledge should be free. Books for leisure? I'll buy it paperback when possible but if I can't find it locally I'd sooner pirate than buy second hand on Amazon, no money's going to the pubs either way and I'm saving money.

[Anonymous No.2261402]

>>2261389
Someone probably told him about dramatic pauses. I hope one day he does a line of audio books.

[Anonymous No.2261409]

>>2261402
There's a dramatic pause and then there's unnecessary pauses like that kid in high school who struggled reading Lord of the Flies.

[Anonymous No.2261415]

>>2261409
Oh yeah, that one kid. Because we all know who you're talking about.

[Anonymous No.2261416]

>>2261409
That's what I mean. I would just like such a set of audio books to exist.

[Anonymous No.2261420]

>>2261415
Wow you're a retard.

[Anonymous No.2261426]

>>2261415
If you don't know who it was, it's probably you...

[Anonymous No.2261430]

hey Barry? I crotched that Bantu language guide sitting on the language instruction shelf because it was a ratty, outdated book that would have sold for a dollar at best, had a dollar price marking rubbed out, and you put twenty on instead. In turn, I bought a biography of Ezra Pound at a higher price than you had marked it to give you some business.

[Schroedinger's Zomby Kittie !!qLED7gAcHDO No.2261460]

>>2261303
If justice were involved, the employees would have been caught.

[Anonymous No.2261470]

>>2261460
Hm. No, justice is served because Borders employees are now unemployed.

>Wasn't going to let some ingrate peasant have good books

This snide bit of self-righteousness is just one example of the Ignatius Reillyish attitudes Borders employees exhibited the last month or so, when they could say what they like without fear of recourse.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/donnad/bitter-borders-compilation

[Anonymous No.2261472]

I went to an opportunity shop (not sure if thats what you call them in the USA but its a store that donates all profits to charity) yesterday and found a great book for three dollars. I gave the guy at the counter two, two dollar coins and waited for my change. He didnt give it to me and i was about to say something but i thought that i was buying a beautiful book and it goes to charity anyway so i didnt say anything and happily walked out with my four dollar purchase.

[Anonymous No.2261473]

>>2261470
There's also this letter, which basically whines about all the things that kept Borders in business, and supplied the author a job.

[Anonymous No.2261486]

I was twelve years old when I first did this.

The library ladies knew me by sight by then and would always smile warmly, for I was a unique little fella.

Other kids would always go straight for dinosaur books, and all the science albums with cool pictures, but I've outgrown that phase long ago. I would dive between the bookcases nearest to the door, the ones with Bulhakov and Lem, with Tolkien and Mann and Sholokhov.

At first it was the sci-fi section at the beginning, where they could see me clearly but in time I began to venture further, borrowing books by strange authors whose names I've heard on tv or from people talking and they'd wink at each other and laugh a bit because how could a kid understand those.

One day, at the very end, amidst russian authors tightly packed together I spied a queer little book and reached for it. It was memoirs of Ilona Staller, known as Cicciolina, under a 100 pages long but it made my heart beat faster. I'd have looked mighty suspicious standing there for so long, but thank god the ladies wouldn't check on me, so often I've disappeared there for long periods of time.

When it was done, I put the book beneath my shirt and, legs shaking, walked out, having enough gall to borrow one other book, hoping to assuade any suspicions they might have.

I have stolen my first book.

wasn't even as fucking good as it looked at first, I think it was all about the thrill of the moment- a library and a pair of boobs. She did write about how she put a snake in once, though.

[Anonymous No.2261636]

>>2261473

So true. Lost count of the number of customers I dealt with who'd be: "Yeah, I don't know what it's called, who it's by but I know it involves a boat. Please find this book for me immediately."

[Mr. Noc aka Future Boy !RXm61rnmYY No.2261647]

I haven't done it since I was a young teen.
I frequented my local library
I would just bring lots of paper to fluff out my backpack and surround whatever books I wanted. Insulation.

I did this for months, half the books I still own are of that period.

[Anonymous No.2261655]

Yuk. Stealing from libraries? Not like I care about where you get 'em but aren't library books stamped all over and got catalogue numbers down the spine.

That don't look good on the shelf.

[Anonymous No.2261829]

>>2261655
Exactly. And the germs...
Considering how worked up people on /lit/ get about their favourite authors, there's a veritable school o fpotential children on each book . That's why it's better to steal from bookshops

[Anonymous No.2262041]

I make a nice bit of money on the side by acquiring rare/old books in independent bookstores then selling them online for vast profits (old books advertised as rare and sold for at least 3x their actual value, rare books simply sold for their actual value)

inb4 that's so immoral - I know, but I'm much more likely to get caught stealing from Waterstones, and I'm not going to turn much of a profit selling a paperback copy of Delia Smith's autobiography or whatever the hell passes for a good book these days.

[Anonymous No.2262045]

>last year in college
>see a couple of cool books
>discover they were last taken in 1988
>realize they are going to have a better use in my shelf instead of in that sea of piss
>keep it without thinking twice

I like stealing books, I see absolutely no problem as long as it's not personal, from somebodies home. From a library or bookstore, I don't mind.

[Anonymous No.2262061]

I Can afford to buy my own books as i'm not an english major

[Anonymous No.2262065]

>>2261409
>>2261415
I do... reason number 1 for why I hated reading in class. Took forever to get past a page.

[Anonymous No.2262086]

>>2262045
You are denying others access to those books, that's why it's wrong.

[Anonymous No.2262088]

>>2262086
If there will be big demand for it, they will notice it is missing and replace it.
Also he mentioned something about not being requested since 1988?

[Anonymous No.2262093]

>>2262086
This:
>>2262088

Of course it's not any book, it depends on the context.

[Anonymous No.2262098]

>>2262061

Which you make clearly evident through your atrocious writing.

[Anonymous No.2262100]

>>2262061

Stephen King was an English major and he's a multimillionaire. What do you say to that?

[Anonymous No.2262102]

I stole about 20-30 books from a Coles from about
12 to 14 years old.
almost all of them were from the Dragonlance series.
They never had Test of the twins so I asked them to order it and then stole it.
It was the last one I stole for some reason, was never caught.

[Anonymous No.2262104]

>>2262098
>clearly evident
>atrocious writing

[Anonymous No.2262112]

>They never had Test of the twins so I asked them to order it and then stole it.

This is by far the classiest thing I've heard all month. No joke.

[Anonymous No.2262127]

>>Secondhand store in my tiny town pays a flat rate for used books, only enters them into the system at checkout.

>>But then run the ISBN, ect, to valuate the book.

>>Looking through a stack of older books, I find a relatively mint copy of Ben Hur.

>>Check the print date, a few other things, look on my phone.

>>First edition, first print.

>>Swipe that shit like a motherfucker.

No regrets.

[Anonymous No.2262135]

>>2261009
>>2261015
>Tao Lin
>Dead
lol. dude has a hard-on for shoplifting though so he can't complain either.

[Anonymous No.2262154]

I stole this beauty from my high school's library.

[Anonymous No.2262159]

>stealing from libraries
>an organisation that promotes reading among the young
>ISHYGDDT

[Anonymous No.2262160]

i used to steal Crestwood Monster books. Then i moved on to MAD magazines and rock bios.

[Anonymous No.2262278]

After reading this thread I wrapped a belt around myself under my shirt, went up to my local book rip-off store and liberated something

[Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ No.2262288]

They were closing Borders down and the price sticker was missing. There was no way for them to sell it fairly so I gave myself an extra savings on their slash and burn sales.
Nice looking book too.

[Anonymous No.2262302]

Coincidentally I nabbed this book

[Anonymous No.2262324]

None.

Pirated a shit-ton though.
Problem with pirating books though, is 9/10 they are formatted horrifically bad, and look like utter shit on an ereader unless you take the time to clean it up.
So while i may have not spent a penny on any of the content in my ereader, i have put atleast 10 minutes into each book to make it usable.(and with over 250 books, that would be over 40 hours of work... a full weeks worth of work, or over $400 at minimum wage)

[Anonymous No.2262349]

>>2262324
>implying you even make minimum wage

Your time has no value if you have no job to begin with.

[Anonymous No.2262353]

never from a shop as a costumer, but when i worked in a bookstore we'd take nicer books for free then we were meant to, and when i was 14 i stole mein kampf from my jr high library (it was a really old edition, pre-war, i was really excited about it but never finished reading it,)

(

[Anonymous No.2262372]

>>2262160
>>2262160


hahah, i acidently took a bunch of those from my elementry school library.

[Anonymous No.2262439]

>>2260820
I've got a copy of the #1 most shoplifted book of all time--Subway Art--which I shoplifted. Also got a first ed. of G.E.F's Fuck You Heroes that way. Bear in mind this book is 11 1/2" x 11 1/2" and I'm a 32" waist. had to jam that one down corner first. I'm sure there were others, but nothing springs immediately to mind. my knuckleheaded days are long behind me now, though.

[Anonymous No.2262441]

>>2260923
GO BACK TO SCHLICKING OVER THE SCUM MANIFESTO, BITCH!

[Anonymous No.2262479]

>thread 95% faggots stealing from the public i.e. from libraries.

>>2262127 knows the shop is too lazy to price their shit, depends on buyer to recognize the gems, i.e. they expect you to do their work, then charge you for it. mfw this poster is the best guy ITT

[Anonymous No.2262483]

Well, how about sharing your stealing experiences, tips, etc.. ?

I remember that many years ago i got into crimethinc (i know, lame; but hey i was young and innocent) and i read a pretty useful stealing guide on one of their books. I think it was on Recipes For A Disaster. It had stuff like how to deal with cameras, working in group, excuses if you are caught etc.

Right now i just find a blind spot, pretend to be looking a book while having 2 on the hand and slowly put one of them in my pants (against the hips). If youre wearing a thick jacket it passes unnoticed. Now, if im taking more than one, i have a bag pack with a hole in the back, so it is easy to put a book inside the bag in a second.

[Anonymous No.2262504]

>>2262483
Hmmm my only tip is to dress extremely nicely and to shower and be freshly shaved. People generally stereotype based on your attractiveness, cleanliness, and the confidence you extrude. I'm a tall, handsome guy, and I'm fairly well-off and know how to dress. This is the type of person you'd never suspect of stealing. So I do it.

If you look down at the floor, or dress poorly, you will be watched closely. I don't steal very much except for the occasional couple of moleskins from stores (I refuse to pay for them on principle). The girls who work the cashier or stroll around the store to help are usually to busy flirting with me or blushing and nervously looking away to suspect me of anything.

[Anonymous No.2262533]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121489286

I'll just leave this here...

[Anonymous No.2262565]

Any Canadians here? Hows' stealing from Chapters? Are the cameras real/are the rfid tags in the spines ( i doubt it)

[Anonymous No.2262573]

Banned from 5 libraries with $3,000 in debt. Come at me

[Anonymous No.2262574]

>>2262573
WHATTTTTTT

Give us a taste of what you racked up those 3000 dollars on. It had better not have been Tom Clancy.

[Anonymous No.2262575]

I am surrounded by brigands.

[Anonymous No.2262579]

>>2262574
War and peace and an entire collection of writings from Goethe. The other 50 will remain anon.

[Anonymous No.2262855]

I always test out the alarms near the front of stores. Take a hardback to front, as there's almost always bays of books right next to the front doors and security alarms, and just mosey past, see if the alarm goes off, act all surprised and innocent if it does.

If not, well, you know you're in business then.

Always pretend to browse a bit first, pick up something, read the back, check the first page or something. Then just go for what you want and, instead of hanging around looking suspicious, just grab and go.

[Anonymous No.2262864]

Secretly, deep down, I think of books as people. This thread horrifies me in the same way that the concept of burning books horrifies me.

[Anonymous No.2262870]

>>2262864
>not stealing books from shitty stores
>not stealing hot girls from their crappy partners

Stay beta, bro.

[Anonymous No.2262878]

One day I recall that my college's library owns a very nice hardcover copy of Lolita with an old-school cover. I despise the word vintage as society has abused it, but I am a huge fag for vintage and old-fashioned designs. It must be mine. Some days later I arrive at my college. There is no power due to intense winds. My class is cancelled because the doors can't open and it is windy as tits. I decide to waste time in the library instead, and I see that the doors are being held open. There is no power in the library. The alarms are not functioning. The computers are not working. The cameras are obsolete. There are at least 100 kids just hanging out inside of the library and being noisy. I disguise my motives by making small talk with a random girl at a table. I contact a friend on the codec and ask him to send me the book's shelf location. The decoy seems moderately interested in me. I consider asking for her number, but I remember that she will never be as perfect as my loli waifu. I abruptly ignore her from this point on. I receive the text message, I pocket the book, and I wave goodbye to the door-maiden. I go home and I masturbate to loli porn.

[Anonymous No.2262879]

>>2262878

Shoo!

>>>/tv/

[Anonymous No.2262886]

>>2261007
Inb4 business major

[Anonymous No.2262887]

This thread is disgusting. I honestly don't see why anyone in their right mind would do this.

If you have money and really want a specific book, you can afford to buy it.

If you don't have any money, there are libraries where you can take the books home with you, or big book stores that'll let you read all fucking day.

Seriously, stealing is bad enough, but stealing books? There must be something inherently lacking in your personalities.

[Anonymous No.2262888]

>>2262887
If you can't find a reason to want to steal a book, and if your 'morals' are going to stop you from lifting one copy of a mass-produced copy of your favorite story, then I think you seriously lack any sort of passion. You are impotent and inert. Enjoy your life.

[Anonymous No.2262889]

>>2262887
I am trying to imagine you with a personality.

[Anonymous No.2262896]

>>2262888
So give me a good reason to steal a book?

Explain to me why it is "potent" and "passionate" to shoplift shit you don't have to, simply because you want something without paying for it?

Please, defend your actions.

[Anonymous No.2262900]

>>2262896
Sorry, I can't really explain it to you. You've obviously never wanted something bad enough that you would disregard the rules. I bet you were a very good boy in class.

[Anonymous No.2262914]

>>2262900
I was, yes.

So instead of, say, saving up for the book you really want to own a physical copy of (this isn't about getting to read the book, just owning a paper copy), you decided that you deserve it so much, that you don't have to pay for it?

Have you ever reflected on that kind of behavior? Like, what is your self-justification?

[Anonymous No.2262921]

I have stolen many a book in my 20 years.
The first was a collection of H.P. Lovecraft's stories from a Borders in AZ when I ran away from rehab. Books had to be approved, and Lovecraft was not approved. Years later when I relapsed, all my money went to pot so I stole books frequently from Borders in town.

<MFW Borders goes bankrupt

[Anonymous No.2262931]

Never stolen a physical copy, but I have committed a lot of digital piracy.

/pic related

[Anonymous No.2262989]

>>2262896

Blatantly another hypocrite who has downloaded a tonne of stuff but think's there's nothing wrong with theft so long as it's not a physical copy.

[Anonymous No.2262993]

>>2262921
sounds great.

[Anonymous No.2263002]

in high school i stole hundreds of CDs and books from barnes and noble. we used to go to the mall and just steal tons of shit for fun.

we'd go to nordstroms and steal pants by wearing them out under our pants and then get people to return them without a receipt for cash. if you didn't have a receipt you had to show your driver's license which you couldn't do more than twice so we'd get people we know to do it at different stores in the county for a small cut of the profits. the pants were like 150 a pair which was great in HS.

anyway, i just pirate now


>mfw when we were all upper middle class white kids anyway

[Anonymous No.2263009]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeTybKL1pM4

[Anonymous No.2263014]

>>2262989
It's not theft. It's infringement.

[Anonymous No.2263015]

I make a shit ton of money [for my needs] as a data entry weenie. I don't need to steal a thing. I think I do it because I am bored, and like to think of myself as a stealthy thief type, which I am really not.

First of all, I don't shit where I eat. The most convenient bookstore to me would be a stupid move, because if I get caught there I wont ever be going back.

Second, I don't steal from local mum-and-dad bookstores. The guys who get in quirky sci-fi and obscure shit the big chains don't bother with. Used bookstores are fine, and easy fodder anyway.

The hardest part is remembering how you walk, talk and act when you aren't stealing something. Acting natural should never require acting, but it does when you are up to something.

I also sneak into places and do Afremov-inspired impressionistic paintings of the view of the street/building whatever. It may not be street, but that's how I roll, motherfucker. My work was in MX a while back. 'Mystery painter,' they called me.

[Anonymous No.2263023]

>>2263015
Hmm? Is this guy trollin'?

>I also sneak into places and do Afremov-inspired impressionistic paintings of the view of the street/building whatever. It may not be street, but that's how I roll, motherfucker. My work was in MX a while back. 'Mystery painter,' they called me.
Confirmed.

[Anonymous No.2263029]

I appreciate books too much to steal them. Honestly, what I get out of it is worth the money.

[Anonymous No.2263032]

>>2263009
I sing that whenever it's appropriate.

[Anonymous No.2263054]

>>2263014

You're not stealing a copy but you're stealing PROFIT.

[Anonymous No.2263066]

>>2263054
No you're not. You're not stealing anything you're just infringing someones rights or you would be charged with theft instead of copyright infringement.

[Anonymous No.2263070]

>>2260900
>"Hey Emma, would you please take my life in exchange for letting me sniff your asshole?"
>"lol k"

[Anonymous No.2263072]

In highschool I used to steal the classic books that no one had ever borrowed.

I can't remember all of them but Dracula was one of them. Dostoievski, Steinbeck. Good times.

[Anonymous No.2263093]

>>2263070
>2011
>using books as a stool

ISHYGDDT

[Anonymous No.2263118]

I have never stolen anything, but the idea is very exciting. Going to a small used bookstore nearby, tips?

[Anonymous No.2263120]

Is she taking a dump on literature?

[Anonymous No.2263133]

>Checking out my favorite used book store for science fiction novels
>See Rudy Rucker's Software, a book I've been looking for
>Don't have cash on me to buy it
>It's tiny and thin, so I walk over to the far corner of the store where no one ever goes and shove it into my coats inside breast pocket
>Continue to browse
>Smile
>Leave

And then I read the book and it sucked.

Never doing that again.

[Anonymous No.2263137]

>>2263118
stealing from a big chain is easier and a less shitty thing to do

[Anonymous No.2263140]

Question: can books set off those scanner things that some stores have near their doors?

If so, is there a way to bypass this?

[Anonymous No.2263162]

>>2263140

Of course, if they're tagged.

It's the magic books that aren't tagged and still set off alarms that are the problem.

[Anonymous No.2263756]

>>2263162
Where I 'shop', books never set the alarms off. The only things that have tags, and therefore set the door-bastards off, are CDs, electronics etc. And in other shops where books are tagged (in the UK, that's Waterstones), it's a flimsy bookmark-style thing that you just throw into the recycling bin at the back of the store or put into another book.
What are the tags like for everyone else? Are they physical things that have to be prised/peeled off? Or is there somethiing in the barcode which, when scanned, deactivates something that would set the alarms screaming (Because, as far as I kn ow, barcodes aren't unique. Rather, they'll have one barcode for series of one product [I reckon])? How do the staff get rid of the tags when you actually pay for a book?

Also, in terms of morality, I agree with the moralfags. It's different to, and more morally and socially acceptable, to torrent ebooks than lift physical copies. But there's no entitlement to it: I don't feel I'm owed the books simply because I enjoy reading (as that twatty article put it). I do it for the steady, everyday thrill and because I can't afford a lot of books. It's no more gentlemanly than sucking dick for crack, but goddamnit if it doesn't give me the same kind of rush

[Anonymous No.2263769]

>>2263756
Would it be easy in WH Smith?

[Anonymous No.2263776]

its funny that on a site with so many self professed anarchists there are so many people who exemplify why an anarchic society would blow ass

[Anonymous No.2263784]

I have a biography of the Marquis de Sade that I borrowed from the library in Bath about eight years ago and haven't taken back, but other than that, nada - no proper thefts to brag about and when I get round to reading this book I'll most likely return it.

[Anonymous No.2263804]

Closest I got was almost stealing Boneshaker because it was like $25 for the paperback version. I didn't though so I'm lame. My criminal masterminding usually involves stealing makeup from chain pharmacies every few months.

[Anonymous No.2263818]

>>2263756

Back in Borders UK there were two types of tag we uses - the crummy ones you can pretty easily remove and then the others that super-glued themselves to the book and you couldn't remove without tearing off most of the page along with the tag.

[Anonymous No.2263841]

>>2263769
Oh yeah. The reason I first lifted something was because the queue was too long so I took it on a whim, and it's always turned out to be less hassle than actually buying it, it's that easy (no aspie)
>>2263804
That shit's so overpriced and sooo easy to steal, easier than books

[Anonymous No.2263850]

>>2262127
There was a bookstore between Montreal and Vermont that had a backroom and a backdoor near their vintage books, I was tempted to steal things that looked like first editions.

[Anonymous No.2263868]

>>2261473
That feel when I always look for the book I am looking, it's just that the organization at my Borders could go from amazing to borderline (pun not intended) retarded.

[Anonymous No.2264043]

>>2263009
>implying this is relevant to this thread of people stealing physical copies of books.

[Anonymous No.2264451]

>>2263776
I think you are confused.

/b/ is that way ---->

[Anonymous No.2264480]

almost stole a book yesterday. I found the metal tag that trips the alarms and peeled it off. but i pussied out.

[Anonymous No.2264497]

>>2264451
Dude, if you're gonna post, learn to
>>>/y/

[Anonymous No.2264522]

So anybody actually know anything about stealing books?

[Anonymous No.2264527]

>>2264451

actually, /b/ is

<------- that way

[Anonymous No.2264550]

>>2264522

I know that it's easiest to pull off during the winter months. Being able to wear a large down jacket with multiple pockets without attracting suspicion and an increase in browsing patrons makes it harder for them to catch you.

[Anonymous No.2264613]

>>2262353
A pre-war copy of Mein Kampf in a Junior High School?....Where did you go to school?

The pre-war copy in the New York Public Library requires an appointment; it's under crazy security...

[Anonymous No.2264631]

>>2264613
That's because New York is full of Jews.

[Anonymous No.2264738]

>>2263133
yo, if it sucked, you should sneak it back into the same bookstore and return it to the shelf. that would be a cooler story, am i rite?

[Anonymous No.2264750]

>>2264613

a small town in california, im not sure why no one had thought to steal it in 70 years.

[Anonymous No.2264776]

>>2264522
I think me (>>2262439) and >>2263756 are the only two. the way to steal anything that doesn't fit in your pocket is to slide it under your shirt, then shove it down into your waistline. stole shit all the time this way for years and years. fashions have changed since I was active, so if you wear tight t-shirts on the reg, you basically can't steal unless you've got a winter coat etc.

another get-over is to fold aluminum foil into a bag, cover the foil in duct tape so it won't tear, then slide your intended theft into it before using the above method, which will defeat the tag/sensors by the door. I used to have one just the size of one of those theft-prevention cases they put around cds which folded thinly into my back pocket.

but don't steal from indie shops, stick to well-insured chains. and quit stealing from libraries, ya fuckin losers!

[Anonymous No.2264786]

I used to steal books from high school library. And I stole the ones I knew no one had ever read or would ever read. The ones which have been there for a lifetime and no one ever took them for something more than carrying and showing the teacher they are reading. Yeah, I stole books, a lot of them, I might say, and never got any close to getting caught.

[Anonymous No.2264823]

>>2264776

Another trick is to wear a button up shirt and belt.

Go into the bathroom and remove the belt and wrap it around your mid. Return to the store, find the book you want, look for cameras/people, then in one fluid movement slide the book under your shirt and under the belt. You can then either keep it there or push it down into your pants.

[Anonymous No.2264828]

I got caught shoplifting once.
Now I find it really really really hard to shoplift.
I nearly got caught at a chapters. I noticed someone who seemed to be following me so I went up and down the escalator. They did too.
So I ditched the book and left.

[Anonymous No.2264833]

>>2261318
wrong. They stick RFID tags into some of the books.

[Anonymous No.2264857]

I used to do the "backpack lined with aluminum foil" trick. Worked like a charm.

[Anonymous No.2264873]

>>2264833
I have a professor who was instrumental in the development of RFID tags.

[Anonymous No.2264881]

>>2264873
Is there any other use for those things?

[Anonymous No.2264891]

>>2264881
They put them on surgical instruments now, for inventory. So they can find out who they left the callipers in.

[Anonymous No.2264914]

[Anonymous No.2264927]

>>2264891
Brilliant

[Anonymous No.2266138]

>>2264776
Haha I'm actually the guy you're replying to and the other guy you referenced, I was just looking for more tips. I heard that the foil trick is a myth, or perhaps it wasn't at one point but security have now worked out how to fight it. So I've never tried that. Examples of shops/products where it's worked?
I definitely agree with not lifting from libraries though. That's where I learnt to appreciate books and, although I wouldn't exactly describe myself as conscientious, it just feels wrong. Plus, it's harder to steal from there than from a bookstore and, as I've already said, eww germs

[Anonymous No.2266149]

Amongst many, I got Everyman's Library prints of "The Trial" and Machiavelli"s "The Prince" from my old school library. No remorse, the librarians were dicks.
Delicious delicious books.

[Anonymous No.2266218]

I've stolen four or five books from my library's annual book sale. Shit is way overpriced, and the free stuff that's left out the day after the sale is the fare of old ladies and coffee tables.

I'd like to steal a moleskin from b&n sometime, I'm not paying for that shit.

[Anonymous No.2266297]

I steal from HPB all the time because they pay so little for teh books they buy; never steal from small independents

Most I ever stole in a day: $400 worth from 4 stores

[Anonymous No.2266517]

I don't steal much, but I feel like I should up my game and just take a shitload of books one day.

[Anonymous No.2266521]

>>2266149

I fucking love Everyman's Library hardbacks.

[Anonymous No.2267343]

tips: stealing is easy, you're far more likely to be safe than caught if you're careful, just don't act like a criminal

put a few books in your pants and then buy one. this way you won't feel like a bad citizen and you won't feel like the eyes of the whole fucking world are gazing in on you when you exit the two wooden things by the chapters doors

sensors at chapters don't work for shit because books don't have security tags on them. check. there is no such thing as invisible security tags

the authors get full profits when you steal their book. this is because chapters pays the publisher money to buy a bunch of books. if there is a demand for a particular book and it's out, no matter what they'll have to pay the publisher to order more copies. common sense. dead authors don't lose profits either, of course, just rich, greedy publishing companies

best time to pilfer is during the busy holiday season, so go get your lift on

[Anonymous No.2267396]

this thread makes me want to steal the 50's and earlier editions of books that i like from the local library because they are >>>>>> than paperbacks. but i won't.

[Anonymous No.2267451]

archive? archive

[Anonymous No.2268357]

>>2267343
RFID tags are almost invisible and I've heard of them being inserted into the book's spine. They're barely larger than a grain of rice so go figure
The electronic tags they widely use nowadays (because RFID is becoming increasingly common but it's nowhere near universal yet) can be missed so double check that shit. Or find a bookshop/chain that don't tag.
And yes, people oftten overlook the fact that authors have already been paid and shoplifting won't harm them as it's hardly a mainstream activity (no hipster)
>>2267396
Your library has 50s editions?! Shit, son, you have to let me know where that is

[Anonymous No.2268374]

>>2268357
rfid is pretty easy to take care of, though

it's not very good for security

[Anonymous No.2268382]

>>2268374
Go on...

[Anonymous No.2268383]

Where is the best place to pirate books?

[Anonymous No.2268387]

>>2268382
i'm not really familiar with the practical side, and its been a while since i was really into it. i just know it's not great from a security standpoint. hella funny, though, the rfid people wouldn't let mythbusters do a show about it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X034R3yzDhw

[Anon. No.2268544]

Read Cory Doctorow's Little Brother on craphound.com, he let's you read it for free. It's a good book and teaches you how to get rid of RFIDs, among other things.

[Anonymous No.2268562]

>That feel when Emma Watson couldn't name all 4 members of the Beatles.

She's not very cultured.

[Anonymous No.2269802]

>>2260820
>>2268562
u guys are kidding right? beattles was ancient crap only oldfags and new hipsters know that useless crap

[Anonymous No.2269806]

>>2268562
>60s pop band
>culture

[Anonymous No.2269891]

I took most good philosophy books from my school when i graduated. Kinda steal but i see it as a new hope for the books.

[Anonymous No.2269895]

I volunteered in a charity shop for some time and whenever good classic novel or science or philosophy book was donated, I'd take it home. It's not really stealing because whenever I attempted to pay they just told me not to bother. They had tons of books and the kind I was after weren't the type to be sold. They mostly sold trashy romance novels to old ladies.

[Anonymous No.2269899]

>>2269806

pop-culture is still culture.

[Anonymous No.2269900]

more info on RDIF, I'm scared now that even though I've not been caught a dozen times that someday I might walk out and have the sensors beep me into a face flushing heart attack.

How to detect, remove, where they put it, etc???

[Anonymous No.2269903]

>>2269806
Pop culture is the only culture to come out of the last 50 years. I'm afraid you're going to have to come to terms with this.

[Anonymous No.2269916]

>>2269903
>>2269899

this is what genre fags really believe

[Anonymous No.2269944]

>stealing books
>from second-hand book stores

You had me up to there. Why the hell would I steal a book that probably only costs 99p?

[Anonymous No.2269981]

>>2269944
>You had me up to there
So you're okay with stealing books but you don't understand why someone would consider that it's easier and more convenient to steal a lesser value object? (AND also less punishable/easier to be forgiven if caught).

[Anonymous No.2270003]

bumping to get two Emma's on the front page

[Anonymous No.2270029]

>>2269981
At this thrift store that sells mostly clothes but has a large 2nd hand book section. There was this old guy who worked there who was really nice, he was a pensioner and ex-war guy blah blah general old people stuff, but he was a pretty cool dude. Anyway he took some books that were given to the store. The store owners found out, fired him and are having him charged. These books would have been sitting on that shelf for years and even if they were sold would have only been done for a total not more than $3. In any case this sweet old dude has lost his job and is getting charged. Arseholes. I'm thinking of putting in a job application.

[Anonymous No.2270075]

>>2270029

Uh, because you want to work for some assholes who'd do that to a poor old guy?

[Anonymous No.2270671]

>Walk into Barnes & Noble
>Grab book.
>Remove little sensor thing
>Walk out.
Mission Accomplished

[Stradlater !!iwUBihX3yR3 No.2270683]

I always tear book 10 of the Republic out of copies at the library. I think it to be rather cruel to do that at a store.

[Anonymous No.2270684]

>>2270029
I mean yeah, they shouldn't have called the cops, that's fucking ridiculous, but
> this sweet old dude has lost his job
...of course he has? can you really be mad about someone getting fired when they were stealing inventory? I mean, I know this is a thread where people are bragging about stealing books, some from bookstores they worked at, but those people probably wouldn't be aghast if they had been caught and fired for what they were doing-- "What!? How dare you? I was only stealing from the store, that doesn't warrant FIRING me, god!"

that's the understood risk when you start stealing shit, I mean come on, the employer doesn't OWE you a job.

[Anonymous No.2270688]

>>2270683
it's even crueler at a library where it's probably the only copy and for the people there it's the only place they can read it

at a bookstore it can be restocked, or customers can just go somewhere else if they can afford a luxury like an expensive magazine

[Stradlater !!iwUBihX3yR3 No.2270697]

>>2270688

It is in more danger of being read at the library than purchased at the store I think.

It is available free on the internet and at nearly every second hand shop in the world

[Anonymous No.2270726]

my cousins ex gave me paradise lost to keep, but I assumed I would have to keep talking to her when they broke up but I didnt and now feel guilty

[Anonymous No.2270740]

I really want to steal books from Waterstones now. Do they have any kind of security on their paperbacks or can I just slip them into a bag and walk out?

Man I'm gonna pilfer so many books.

[Anonymous No.2271154]

>>2270740
Waterstones are nobs. You will likely get caught

[Anonymous No.2271218]

I've stolen books from my highschool.
I didn't really care. I think only me and about 10 other people in the 2500 student school actually used the library for checking out books just for fun.
So I stole books because my use was greater than the school's.

[Anonymous No.2271265]

I really want to steal something from Chapters now, but I won't because I'll be getting a Kindle soon and I'll be able to pirate to my heart's content.

[Anonymous No.2271303]

I've taken about 30 books from my school's library; mostly shitty permabounds with no worth.

I stole Mein Kampf and Lolita this week from the public library. They were both mass-produced versions with no value, and they do own more copies of each. I kept the barcodes on them just in case if I run out of room, or if the guilt takes over.

[Anonymous No.2271310]

>sweet old dude
>thief

Yes, im sure he was a stand up guy

[Anonymous No.2271311]

>>2261012
And she was like the smartest girl at Hogwarts.

[Anonymous No.2271316]

>>2270671
I'm thinking about doing this, but I feel like Barnes & Nobles would be more on the up and up with these things. You could steal anything from Borders though.

>>2271303
I don't know why I didn't take more books from my high school library. It was kind of small though, but still, I remember opening up a copy of Henry James's "The American" that hadn't been taken out since 1979.