Dorian Gray - no. 33

Penguin Modern Classics 1966

Price:a little under £3

History:Across the road from Chinatown there are a row of good quality second hand book shops, which I often pop into on the way home from Forbidden Planet. Buying this was the greatest challenge - at only £3, I couldn't use my card, so I gave the shop owner all my small change, and he gave me a vague student discount, and I left a very happy bunny.

That row of shops do frustrate me however, particularly the one next door. It has a massive backroom of properly valuable books, with a sign explaining to ask for assistance. Whenever I do, they direct me to the regular classics section, and I want to scream at them - just because I look like a student, doesn't mean I'm necessarily looking for something cheap. I mean, cheap is lovely - but I don't buy any other books. I wait for them to come out in libraries, or borrow from friends. The Picture of Dorian Gray is my whole book-buying budget.

Look:Well isn't it an ugly thing. Never mind the woodcut, which I suppose you can justify as ugly Dorian's soul - that shade of purple?! Again, purple is a colour that can work with copies of the book, but there's something pretty ugly about it. Additionally, the blurb gives away the plot completely.

Introductions/appendices: none