The New Midwestern Table: 200 Heartland Recipes: A Cookbook, (Hardcover)

I was very much looking forward to receiving my order. Besides the fact of being delayed for a week due to the package being delivered to my previous address, I was very disheartened and disappointed to see the shape that my brand new cook book was in. The first thing I noticed was the "box" that my books were in, wasn't even a box. It was a piece of cardboard folded four times to resemble a box with no ends. The ends were taped into place with up to one inch gaps all around. The "box" itself looked beaten up, wrinkled from end to end. When I opened my package my books were just laying inside, they weren't even wrapped in plastic to protect them from the weather. I'm thankful that the package was found in the post office instead of leaving it on a door step because if it would've rained my books would've been completely ruined. Next I noticed the dust cover's edges were worn, and when I opened my book, the first page is separating from the book. At this point, all of my excitement and enthusiasm has vanished. You can see the binding of the book in the middle of the first picture. Trying to make the best out of the situation I begin to flip through the book only to find the first 14 pages are loose. At this point I have had my package for an hour and I am in route to return it to the nearest Walmart. I feel like I have received a used book when in fact I have paid for a new one. If I would have seen this book in the store, I, or any other person, would not have bought it. It is a beautiful book inside and out; however, for the price of the book and the shipping I have paid I believe I should've received a book in better shape because I was hoping to use it for years to come.