Barking up the wrong tree

From an online store that specialises in personalised gifts comes a literary appeal to anyone's vanity. GettingPersonal sells classic novels—mostly as gifts—that let recipients and their friends star as the main characters. Taking a concept we've already seen applied to travel guides and stories for younger children, the company has chosen a range of books with lasting appeal (and without pesky copyright issues). For the romantics there's Pride and Prejudice and Romeo and Juliet; adventure-seekers get Robin Hood and The Hound of the Baskervilles; those after something more sinister can take their pick from Frankenstein and Dracula, while Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz provide a healthy dose of fantasy.

Gift packs cost GBP 19.95 and include the chosen novel's cast list, which gives a brief rundown of each of the five main characters. Customers decide who they would like to put in each role and submit the information online or by post. Within 28 days, the personalised classic is delivered, featuring the name of the main character on the cover and the revised names of all the main characters throughout the book. Otherwise, the story remains the same. There's no doubt that consumers enjoy seeing their name in print—one to adapt for popular classics in other languages?

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