Bootleg Books

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Posted on October 30, 2005 by Chris Mitchell

Pirated versions of bestsellers are big business overseas. The unstoppable Literary Saloon has featured several stories this year about the pirated books, from the bootlegging of Harry Potter - not surprising given its popularity - through to the counterfeiting of Bill Clinton's autobiography in India.

Bootleg books are also to be found throughout Cambodia and Vietnam, as I discovered when I was backpacking a couple of years ago. In both countries there are mobile booksellers - teenage boys lugging around boxes of bootleg books who arrive with a sunny smile at your cafe table hoping to sell you a dodgily-produced novel for $3. If you want to read more, I've blogged about the Bootleg Books in Vietnam and Cambodia over on Travelhappy. Complete with pictures too.