Hardboiled Bookseller Diary [147] 2026 Rewrite Edition

"Which one do you think is better?"

It is a mid-January afternoon where time flows gently. Customers watching me silently folding book covers probably think I have nothing to do. The reality is quite the opposite. Replenishments for what sold over the New Year holidays are arriving in massive quantities every day. Due to a severe labor shortage, checkout times are long, and I cannot finish stocking the shelves. Whatever is left over will be carried over to tomorrow. Overtime is basically not permitted, and I have no obligation to go that far for a non-regular job paying minimum wage.

A tall man approaches. He is a middle-aged man with long gray hair tied in a ponytail. Underneath his black leather jacket, he wears a white T-shirt printed with the cover of The Beatles' "Abbey Road" and blue denim pants. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He places the paperback and hardcover editions of "I Want to Distribute Weapons to You" by Tetsushi Takimoto (Kodansha) on the counter.

"The paperback version is an essential edition, so it's slightly abridged."
"Do you know what was cut?"
Actually, I do. I compared them a few years ago. But it would be disrespectful to the author to tell him.
"Do you like The Beatles?"
"Well, yeah."
"What about The Doors from the same era?"
"I listen to them."
"What would you say is their signature song?"
"That would be 'Light My Fire,' wouldn't it? Why do you ask?"
I stared into his eyes without answering.

"...Ah."
He smiled thinly with just his lips and gave me a thumbs-up with his right hand. His silver ring cast a dull light. He chose one book, finished the payment, and walked away whistling.

"What was that all about just now?"
The junior colleague working the register next to me tilted his head.
"Do you know The Doors?"
"Just the name."
"Their song 'Light My Fire,' included on their first album, was played on heavy rotation on the radio, which sparked their popularity, and talk of releasing it as a single came up."
"So the album came first?"
"But the song was nearly seven minutes long."
"It would be better to cut it, then."
"That's exactly what they did."
"Did it sell?"
"It sold like crazy."
"Then it was the right decision, right?"
A group of foreign tourists swarmed in. Their white baskets were piled high with comics and stationery goods. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It finally dies down. It's almost time for me to leave the register.
"I'm heading out."
"Oh, senpai."
"What is it?"
"About what you said earlier, I think it's strange."
"What is?"
"What that rock-and-roll customer bought was..."
He is looking behind me. His gaze is fixed on the workspace used for things like gift wrapping. A blue basket containing books to be returned to the shelves is sitting there.
"Just because something is a big hit doesn't mean it was the right decision. That's what I mean."
"I don't understand."
The melody of the whistle he was blowing. It was Robby Krieger's guitar solo, where the dying flame licks the firewood once more. I believe that 'Light My Fire' with that part cut out is nothing more than a product designed to stimulate consumption.

I won't say that the essential edition of that book is the same. Even if a serialized novel that is usually nearly 1,800 characters is shrunk down to 1,200, it doesn't mean the author cut corners. But as a bookseller who has read both, what I want to recommend is... what I gained the most from is...

I hope you enjoy it.