Bargain of the week: Ten book bloke

Evening Post, 15 Dec 2005

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke, Fopp, £5

Fopp call their target customer Fifty Quid Bloke. The idea is that he comes in looking for one CD and leaves with eight, each of which seemed dirt cheap on its own. And while most of their books are high-class end-of-line stuff, they occasionally try the £50 trick with cult novels. A fiver is what Ms Clarke's absorbing historical fantasy, a past Post Book of the Week, would cost you as part of a Waterstone’s three-for-two. Fopp give you the price up front, trusting it will become part of a 12-for-12. It's infuriating how often they're right.