Celsius 451

Maybe they're not burning the books, but South America as a whole seems to be hellbent against me picking up any English books. I did buy a kindle for the trip, which turned out to be an amazing purchase since I've blown through 11 books already in less than 7 weeks. There are certain books, however, that for some reason Amazon doesnt let me download.

Motorcycle Diaries, for example. When I got down here, I thought it would be nice to read books native to certain areas. I read "In Patagonia" when I was traveling down south, and read Lost City of the Incas when I decided I'd be making a trip back to Peru. Motorcycle Diaries seemed to be the next logical choice. There are very few bookstores that carry English books, and when i do find one MD is never there. I assumed at the Che Guavara museum they would have it for sure, but no such luck.
 In the entire city of Cordoba, not a trace of it.
I finally found it in a bookstore in Uruguay, with no price. I excitedly carried it to the register and when I asked "cuanto Cuesta", the woman behind the counter laughed at me. Normally I would assume this meant that my Spanish was off, but i know for sure I can ask for prices.
The lady told me it was 760$ uruguan pesos. I did the math in my head - $40 USD? That couldn't be right. The book is only about 180 pages! I doublechecked on my iPhone calculator, and there the numbers didnt lie. $40.  There isn't a book in the world I would spend that on, so I walked thinking there must be some mistake. Sure enough 2 weeks later I found it again in Salta, with a pricetag of $20. Still more than twice what I would pay at home for a paperback book!!
I honestly can't figure out how a complete steak dinner with a million sides costs $20 and a book costs $40. If anyone can clue me in, please do! For now, I'll have to hold off on reading my beloved Che!