Is this really worth risking the life of your hamster?

With the holiday season fast approaching, I was browsing around on Amazon.ca for possible gifts, and decided that I might buy a copy of The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross for a friend of mine.  When I entered "atrocity archives" into the Amazon search engine, I was astonished to find that in addition to two options for the novel I was looking for, there was a short list of what I can only consider to be book spam:   

• 100 Unexpected Statements about the Atrocity Archives: A Laundry Files Novel
• 100 Statements About "The Atrocity Archives: A Laundry Files Novel" that Almost Killed My Hamster 
  
• 100 Provocative Statements About "The Atrocity Archives: A Laundry Files Novel"

and so on.

Just out of curiousity, I clicked on a couple of the links for more information.  Sadly, there was no explanation of how literary criticism might kill one's hamster, but the "100 Unexpected Statements" page was a little more forthcoming:

In this book, we have hand-picked the most sophisticated, unanticipated, absorbing (if not at times crackpot!), original and musing book reviews of "The Atrocity Archives: A Laundry Files Novel". Don't say we didn't warn you: these reviews are known to shock with their unconventionality or intimacy. Some may be startled by their biting sincerity; others may be spellbound by their unbridled flights of fantasy. Don't buy this book if: 1. You don't have nerves of steel. 2. You expect to get pregnant in the next five minutes. 3. You've heard it all.

Okay - a 44 page collection of book reviews by other people on sale for $10.28?  Seriously?  Who in their right mind would buy one of these things, and why in the world does Amazon provide these clowns with a venue in which to sell them? 

Regardless, I harbour no ill-will towards our friends of the animal kingdom.  I would like to express my best wishes to the hamster, and I hope that he or she is doing well after their near-death experience.

- Sid