I was picking up some stuff at big-box retailer Costco, and as I normally do, I checked out their books table to see if they have any new books out. Costco often gets custom boxed sets and books available nowhere else, so it’s worth checking. And I find a box marked The Peanuts Collection.

And I’m thinking, hey, I wrote a book called The Peanuts Collection… and it came in its own slipcase! Could this be a rerelease of that?

Then I checked the edge, to see what books are included.

So no, no The Peanuts Collection book…. but there is a book I wrote! Be More Snoopy is one of mine! And look, they made a big, tall edition to match the lovely history book The Peanuts Book in size, to fit the box. Cool! I wonder how it looks blown up that large?

I buy a copy — really, my publisher should send things like this for free, but they don’t always, and I wouldn’t want to miss out on a Be More Snoopy that’s so big, it’s Be Much More Snoopy. I get it home, take the shrink wrap off of the box, and pull it out…

Ach! I’ve been fooled! It’s not a large version of my book, it’s a standard version in a custom cardboard tray.

Now the question: is this something you want? Well, despite a “list price” on the box of $34.99, this is only available at Costco at the moment, and their price sticker put it at $20.99. Now, I cannot legitimately review either of these books. I was paid to work on both of them, as the writer on Be More Snoopy and as a fact checker on The Peanuts Book. But I will say that even if you just want The Peanuts Book, $20.99 is a pretty good price for just that, a $30 cover book — although they do have it cheaper at Amazon at the moment.

BTW, speaking of Costco — when I noted the other day that their website lists an unreasonable estimate of the number of strips reprinted in the Peanuts By the Decade boxed set, I should’ve noted that the error is not Costco’s fault. That “nearly 11,000” count is on the set’s packaging.

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