Have it your way. But books are no longer aimed at the “every man” in terms of pricing, content or appearance.
Depends on the book. Most books actually were never aimed at the every man, they were aimed at fans of the genre. You think Raymond Chandler ever tried to sell books to people that weren’t fans of pulp detective stories?
As for the prices while they have risen dollar for hour books are still the best entertainment value out there. Paperbacks cost about as much as a movie and take on average 5 times as long to read. In a time of $80 dollar concert tickets for stadium tours claiming $8 paperback are priced away from the “every man” is just silly.