Over the last month, I suspected counterfeit versions for both The Product Manager Interview as well as Decode and Conquer.
I took a couple photos to document the differences of the fake and genuine versions. Starting with the spine (above), the most glaring difference is the counterfeit version (middle) is:
Not as tall as the original books
Utilizes a sans-serif font for the book title that’s a much thicker font-weight than the original
It’s harder to tell from this second photograph, but the counterfeit version (middle) doesn’t have the same color as the genuine books on the left and the right. It’s also shorter. It also some dirt and what feels like spilled water damage on the cover.
The back cover also indicates differences in color. It has a bit more of a reddish tint than the legitimate books.
For the interior pages, you can see the differences between the counterfeit copy (right) and the genuine book (left). The counterfeit’s pages are darker, the text is fuzzier, and the contrast is less nuanced. In other words, if the counterfeit one looks like a copy of an original book, it is.