John Kerry's "The New Soldier" -- Why Is This Book So Hard to Find?

Kerry supporters are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to get a copy of Kerry's hard-to-find book, The New Soldier. Some of those bidding on Ebay reveal why.

(PRWEB) February 8, 2004 --An unusual thing is happening over at Ebay. One of John Kerrys books, The New Soldier, received a bid of $355 and didnt even meet its reserve price. Another copy of the book is up to $147.50 and the bidding isn't over.

It isn't common for the books of presidential contenders to be that expensive. Wesley Clarks book, Winning Modern Wars, is also available on Ebay. One copy has an asking price of $15.00, another is going for $9.99. Kerry's other books are selling at similarly reasonable prices.

One of the potential buyers says she was drawn to bid on the book because she is a Vietnam vet and interested in Kerry's viewpoint.

Another of the bidders said he'd recently donated to the Kerry campaign because he believes Kerry is the man to beat Bush. John Kerry and his friends were right to do what they did in Washington, D.C. back then. I think the acts discussed in the book show great insight at an early age and quite frankly I want to read the manuscript to make sure my assumptions are correct.”

But the reason why a former library book with no dust jacket and slight wear" might fetch an asking price of over three hundred dollars is somewhat more complex.

The description in one of the Ebay listings reads, "Due to the controversial nature of the book, most copies were pulled off the shelves when Kerry decided to run for office making this book a rare find."

The seller of the first book stated that he is a Republican with an open mind and had got his copy signed at the Old Capitol mall in Iowa City when Kerry was campaigning there recently. But he had some reservations about the item he was selling. I am a marine and do not care for the cover of the book,” he said. Because what they are actually trying to do is mock the Iwo Jima flag raising done by the marines in the past.”

Iwo Jima is where nearly 7000 marines died in World War II. Six marines were forever immortalized in a photograph as they raised the American flag over the island. Only three of the six ever got to go home again.

The cover of "The New Soldier" features a group of long-haired men mimicking the famous photograph with an upside down flag.

We'll probably be seeing a lot more of this rare book in the coming months.