What did you think of the book Bagdad Cafe?
Asked by
flo (
13313
)
July 9th, 2011
Was it required reading in your school? What stands out about it for you? What did you learn from it?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
12 Answers
I didn’t know that there is a book. I did see the movie,
which I found odd, charming and quirky. It may not have aged too well.
Yeah there is a book, someone suggested it, another person said they didn’t like any of the characters in it. But I like quirky.
Who wrote the book version? I cannot find any evidence that it exists.
Me neither, that is odd isn’t it? I know it does exist though I have seen it.
This article from the Washington Post would indicate that Bahdad Cafe was an original screenplay and not base on a book or short story. From the article:
”The script grew out of the couple’s 1984 trip across the United States”;
referring to director and co-screenwriter Adlon and his wife. It’s possible that there could have been a “novelization” of the movie.
O.K. I did a little sleuthing. I don’t know what the first one but Mart Lachman & Sy Rosen apparently were writers/producers on a very short live TV Series based on the movie, also called, of course, Baghdad Cafe. There were apparently only 15 episodes. Here’s an entry from the Internet Movie Database on one episode. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814625/
I don’t know exactly what the Amazon entry is. There’s no indication that it is something that was published in any standard way. It doesn’t have and ISBN number only an ASIN number which I have learned in that last few moments is an “Amazon Standard Identification Number”.
The second link is some kind of scam. According to the links below, Alphascript Publishing reprints free articles from sources like Wikipedia and sells them for lots of money on Amazon.
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/wiki/foundation/175137
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:PrimeHunter/Alphascript_Publishing_sells_free_articles_as_expensive_books
like the one in your link. 72 pages of free articles from Wikipedia for only $38! Run as fast as you can from that kind of fraud.
@lillycoyote The first one says Unknown Binding… Out of print…Limited Availability. The sencond one says Paperback. I didn’t bother to go into it. Is there somewhere to report this kind of fraud?
I don’t know Flo. I only just found out about this in researching your question. It seems very wrong for Amazon to participate in this kind of fraud. I can’t imagine that no one has brought it to their attention or that they are unaware. I don’t know much more about it that what is in the links I provided. Maybe people could contact Amazon and if enough people do it will get their attention. I don’t know if there’s anywhere else that these Alphascript books are sold but Amazon shouldn’t be selling them, I don’t think, if Amazon is an ethical business.
@lillycoyote I meant it is surprising to find about Amazon.
What do ou think of this:
http://www.report-online-scams.com/
What is it that we should take away from this experience? I mean 4 of us “googled” or “binged?” etc. it and there is no evidence that the book existed. Why would that be?
Answer this question 
