In an effort to keep all their relatives working, the federal government engages in a variety of enterprises ranging from building rocketships to running a book company. This latter endeavor is classified as the U.S. Government Printing Office and every week they publish a sixteen page catalog devoted to the books and pamphlets they’re turning out. Their publications include such classics as Cheese In Family Meals (thirty pages, with pictures, for 20 cents); The Contemporary Cambodian (over 600 pages, hardbound, for $4.50); and A Practical Spanish Grammar for Border Patrol Officers (225 pages, no pictures, all for $1.25). You shouldn’t laugh — a number of their works are interesting and even helpful, and cover a wide variety of subjects from ecology to basketball. Prices start at about 15 cent$ and run to eight or nine dollars, depending on the number of pages you get, a lovely way to sell books.

If you’re interested in learning more about electronics, one recent list featured a number of handbooks on the subject at very reasonable prices, the most interesting being Electrical Fundamentals (almost 200 pages, illustrated, for $2; Item 63Z, code number 0820-0046). This bo6k was put together for military use and is, therefore, written to be understood by just about anybody with the ability to read. I’d recommend it as a basic text on the fundamental principles of electricity and electronics. The Printing Office has also done some books on how computers work, again from an introductory point of view, and even has manuals for electronics repairs you can do yourself. All of these works are well written and much cheaper than comparable stuff by normal publishers. If you’d like to get on the mailing list for their catalog, send a request to The Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402; tell them you’re a red blooded tax paying American and that you want them to send you their weekly Selected U.S. Government Publications.