Academic

So, I'm a big fan of both Michael Lewis and Kindle.  Perhaps all three of us suffer from the same optimism biases (Lewis thought Wall Street would change completely after the 1980s, Kindle thought it would dominate e-publishing forever, and I can't even start listing things I've been overly optimistic about.  Having had my Kindle since December, the first thing I did when I read about Michael Lewis' latest book The Big Short is go to Amazon.com and try to order it on my Kindle.

But it's not available on Kindle.  And it hasn't been since it was released almost two months ago.  And I'm just waiting, out of principle.  Buying print books now, particularly hardcover books, seems like wasting money when I have a Kindle.  Sort of like buying DVDs when I pay for Netflix and haven't sent back the first season of Glee from three months ago. 

Anyway, I am not alone in being sad about the Kindle void for The Big Short.  I was reading this post by Jacqui Lipton titled Not Loving My Kindle So Much Anymore, and noticed that the first commenter, UNC law prof Eric Muller, also wanted to read The Big Short on his Kindle.  It's a movement!  Then I googled "The Big Short" and "Kindle" to see if there was any sort of schedule for releasing the book on Kindle.  Apparently, the movement morphed into a full attack.

Taking Amazon into their own hands, unhappy Kindlers reviewed the book without reading it, making the book's "star" average plummet based on the fact that they couldn't read it.  Salon article here.  MediaMemo article, with video of Michael Lewis praising the Kindle previously, here.

Many commenters jeered the Kindlers, saying that Lewis and his publisher have the right to publish the book however they see fit.  Of course, this is true.  But, us Kindlers can try to tell the publisher that we sure are waiting to buy the book on Kindle any day now.  Amazon seems to have no actual criteria for its reviewers, so if someone wants to give a book one star because it's not in a particular format, that seems legitimate as long as the written review reflects that particular criticism.  And by the way, Michael Lewis, I even bought Panic, which was a thrown-together compilation of junk that you slapped your name on to ride the wave of the 2008 financial meltdown.  So, you owe me.  Kindle me.