Today and tomorrow is the Northern Illinois University English Department's book fair, which means that instructors such as myself get to persuade publisher reps to give us free books that we will supposedly consider using in the courses we teach. Of course at least two-thirds of the books we (instructors) request copies of are really for our personal use, we have no intention of considering them for course usage. But this common-knowledge fact is part of the dance - they throw books at us, and if we think they are quick enough to do so we seriously consider using one of their books (of the half-dozen or so they've given us).
Most of the publisher reps know their role in the dance and play it well, but the guy from W.W. Norton is a notorious miser. This is especially vexing because Norton has the best books - I would actually consider teaching with some of them, but he often won't give out examination copies even if they are legitimate requests. One must be at one's persuasive best to score off of him.
But aside from the evil Norton guy, the book fair is wonderful. It is always in early March, so it feels like a harbinger of spring.
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