BROKEBACK BARGAINS. Let’s say you’re interested in reading Annie Proulx’s short story “Brokeback Mountain.” Scribner has published a special edition that lists for $9.95 ($14.95 hardcover), but Entertainment Weekly calls that the Rip-off of the Week, because you can get the whole 11-story collection Close Range (which includes “Brokeback Mountain”) for $14.

At Amazon, things make just a little more sense. The special edition costs $9.95 (paperback) and $10.17 (hardcover), while the collection sells for $11.20.

However, you can read “Brokeback Mountain” for free at the New Yorker website. Benjie did that yesterday and enjoyed it very much.

Here's how it starts:

"They were raised on small, poor ranches in opposite corners of the state, Jack Twist in Lightning Flat, up on the Montana border, Ennis del Mar from around Sage, near the Utah line, both high-school drop-out country boys with no prospects, brought up to hard work and privation, both rough-mannered, rough-spoken, inured to the stoic life...."