the secret life of Spanish-language online booksellers

July 18, 2007 8:00 PM

I'd like to buy a copy of The Secret Life of Plants... In Spanish. Two seem to be available, for upwards of $40. Help me track down cheaper ones as a gift for a fantastic new friend.

I'm looking for this book as a very specific present for a friend who isn't an English speaker. But, I'm not much of a Spanish speaker, so I'm having trouble finding online booksellers that specialize in Spanish books. I imagine it'd be cheaper to buy the book from somewhere in Latin America and have it shipped here, than to pay that $40+ via addall.com, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere.

The title in Spanish is "La Vida Secreta de las Plantas," by Peter Tompkins & Christopher Bird, translated by Andrés Ma. Mateo. There's one publication from Buenos Aires circa 1988, ISBN# 9501508242; 9789501508246. There's at least one other Spanish publication--the other one that I know of was out of Mexico city in 1973 or '74, no idea re: translator or ISBN.

If anyone's able to find other copies, any extra help re: mysterious fine print in Spanish will be greatly appreciated. Especially regarding international shipping!

posted by soviet sleepover to writing & language (3 comments total)

I know you're looking for "online" but when I buy Spanish books I get them from a local Spanish-language bookstore. They have the most popular stuff. If not, I place an order through them.
posted by vacapinta at 9:09 PM on July 18, 2007

The ISBN for the Mexican edition is 968-13-1048-9, and the publisher is Editorial Diana. The book is out of print, I couldn't find it in any Mexican online bookstores.

I found one for sale in an Argentinian auction site for $14.45 USD. The shipping costs might be too high, though.

I also found an online version, although I'm not sure if it's complete.
posted by clearlydemon at 9:59 PM on July 18, 2007

So this might be way over the top, but could you check it out from a library, copy/PDF every page, and then print it on demand with something like Lulu?
posted by mdonley at 11:14 PM on July 18, 2007