Boy, I missed some stuff once everyone got to posting today.
I love finding autographed books, but I always wonder what the circumstances were that put the book in the store. Often, I suppose, it's from someone having died and their belongings being sold. Some of the people selling the books may not even know or care that there was a signature or inscription. I've found a few that were damned nice, and I will never part with them.
And I have indeed wondered what it must feel like for authors to find their own books that way. Oh, here's a little cautionary tale...
A couple of months ago I purchased a book about the making of Lawrence of Arabia from a seller on Amazon Marketplace. It's the one by Morris and Raskin, and both -- or at least Raskin -- post frequently along with Robert Harris and others in the Lawrence threads on Home Theater Forum. It's not a rare book, but it's been out of print long enough to make really good copies a nice find, and these guys encourage people to seek them out from the secondhand dealers, because they want the book appreciated, not languishing on some store's shelf.
Anyhoo, I was thrilled with the condition of the book -- a copy that had just flown under the radar and which I got for a song -- but even happier when I found an inscription from not one, but both of the authors. I mentioned this in the thread, and Lawrie Raskin was interested to hear who it had been signed to back in the early 1990s. As I was responding, I had a sudden fear that it would be someone he knew, the worst case being a friend, and I wished I'd kept my mouth shut. Fortunately, he didn't know the name; further, he recognized the inscription as being one that they signed a couple of hundred copies for, and all was well. In fact, the story of those copies was quite interesting, but he didn't want to post it publicly, just told me about it in an email.
I've probably forgotten a nuance or two, but the main point is that I was so relieved to learn that I hadn't been party to bringing an author any grief!
So, back to BK's experience -- how amazing, what was there and what wasn't (i.e., the Hofstetters). Gotta wonder about that. But however passive-aggressive or plain old aggressive or malicious or desperate the act was, it's that family's own burden to deal with.