An Appreciation of Sex in Mylar

Flickr photo by user MikeWade. Used under Creative Commons.

The news that Madonna is getting divorced (again) gives me an excuse to tell a story that has an almost (but not entire) lack of relevance.

Back in college, Dave, a friend and dorm mate, was, for a time, pretty obsessed with Madonna's Sex book. (Dave was a man of many obsessions, though one at a time. He was a serial obsessor.)

He bought two copies of the book, at $49.95 apiece. One for, um, reading, and one to keep sealed in mint condition to save as a collector's item.

"Collectors item?!" we scorned, "it's going to be on the bargain remainder bin in a few months. You're crazy!" Dave ignored us.

Now, as I recall, I actually did see the books a few months later, heavily discounted in remainder bins. But time passed, and a funny thing happened:

They actually did turn into collectors items.

Now, searching on Madonna sex book on eBay, a sealed, mint copy will get anywhere from $150-$250 (with at least one deluded optimist setting a Buy It Now price of $499).

Dave, I don't know if you still have your sealed, mint first edition Sex, but I salute you.

Tags: madonna, ebay