There is a lot of things involved in building the page you are web-scraping.
As for description, specifically, the underlying HTML is constructed inside a javascript function:
<script type="text/javascript">
P.when('DynamicIframe').execute(function (DynamicIframe) {
var BookDescriptionIframe = null,
bookDescEncodedData = "%3Cdiv%3E%3CB%3EA%20Fantastic%20Anthology%20Combining%20the%20Love%20of%20Science%20Fiction%20with%20Our%20National%20Pastime%3C%2FB%3E%3CBR%3E%3CBR%3EOf%20all%20the%20sports%20played%20across%20the%20globe%2C%20none%20has%20more%20curses%20and%20superstitions%20than%20baseball%2C%20America%26%238217%3Bs%20national%20pastime.%3Cbr%3E%3CBR%3E%3CI%3EField%20of%20Fantasies%3C%2FI%3E%20delves%20right%20into%20that%20superstition%20with%20short%20stories%20written%20by%20several%20key%20authors%20about%20baseball%20and%20the%20supernatural.%20%20Here%20you%27ll%20encounter%20ghostly%20apparitions%20in%20the%20stands%2C%20a%20strangely%20charming%20vampire%20double-play%20combination%2C%20one%20fan%20who%20can%20call%20every%20shot%20and%20another%20who%20can%20see%20the%20past%2C%20a%20sad%20alternate-reality%20for%20the%20game%27s%20most%20famous%20player%2C%20unlikely%20appearances%20on%20the%20field%20by%20famous%20personalities%20from%20Stephen%20Crane%20to%20Fidel%20Castro%2C%20a%20hilariously%20humble%20teenage%20phenom%2C%20and%20much%20more.%20In%20this%20wonderful%20anthology%20are%20stories%20from%20such%20award-winning%20writers%20as%3A%3CBR%3E%3CBR%3EStephen%20King%20and%20Stewart%20O%26%238217%3BNan%3Cbr%3EJack%20Kerouac%3CBR%3EKaren%20Joy%20Fowler%3CBR%3ERod%20Serling%3CBR%3EW.%20P.%20Kinsella%3CBR%3EAnd%20many%20more%21%3CBR%3E%3CBR%3ENever%20has%20a%20book%20combined%20the%20incredible%20with%20great%20baseball%20fiction%20like%20%3CI%3EField%20of%20Fantasies%3C%2FI%3E.%20This%20wide-ranging%20collection%20reaches%20from%20some%20of%20the%20earliest%20classics%20from%20the%20pulp%20era%20and%20baseball%27s%20golden%20age%2C%20all%20the%20way%20to%20material%20appearing%20here%20for%20the%20first%20time%20in%20a%20print%20edition.%20Whether%20you%20love%20the%20game%20or%20just%20great%20fiction%2C%20these%20stories%20will%20appeal%20to%20all%2C%20as%20the%20writers%20in%20this%20anthology%20bring%20great%20storytelling%20of%20the%20strange%20and%20supernatural%20to%20the%20plate%2C%20inning%20after%20inning.%3CBR%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E",
bookDescriptionAvailableHeight,
minBookDescriptionInitialHeight = 112,
options = {};
...
</script>
The idea here would be to get the script tag's text, extract the description value using regular expressions, unquote the HTML, parse it with lxml.html and get the .text_content():
import re
from urlparse import unquote
from lxml import html
import requests
url = "http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1597805483"
page = requests.get(url, headers={'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_10_0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/38.0.2125.111 Safari/537.36'})
tree = html.fromstring(page.content)
script = tree.xpath('//script[contains(., "bookDescEncodedData")]')[0]
match = re.search(r'bookDescEncodedData = "(.*?)",', script.text)
if match:
description_html = html.fromstring(unquote(match.group(1)))
print description_html.text_content()
Prints:
A Fantastic Anthology Combining the Love of Science Fiction with Our National Pastime.
Of all the sports played across the globe, none has more curses and superstitions than baseball, America’s national pastime.Field of Fantasies delves right into that superstition with short stories written by several key authors about baseball and the supernatural.
Here you'll encounter ghostly apparitions in the stands, a strangely charming vampire double-play combination, one fan who can call every shot and another who can see the past, a sad alternate-reality for the game's most famous player, unlikely appearances on the field by famous personalities from Stephen Crane to Fidel Castro, a hilariously humble teenage phenom, and much more.
In this wonderful anthology are stories from such award-winning writers as:Stephen King and Stewart O’NanJack KerouacKaren Joy FowlerRod SerlingW. P. KinsellaAnd many more!Never has a book combined the incredible with great baseball fiction like Field of Fantasies.
This wide-ranging collection reaches from some of the earliest classics from the pulp era and baseball's golden age, all the way to material appearing here for the first time in a print edition. Whether you love the game or just great fiction, these stories will appeal to all, as the writers in this anthology bring great storytelling of the strange and supernatural to the plate, inning after inning.
Similar solution, but using BeautifulSoup:
import re
from urlparse import unquote
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
import requests
url = "http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1597805483"
page = requests.get(url, headers={'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_10_0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/38.0.2125.111 Safari/537.36'})
soup = BeautifulSoup(page.content)
script = soup.find('script', text=lambda x:'bookDescEncodedData' in x)
match = re.search(r'bookDescEncodedData = "(.*?)",', script.text)
if match:
description_html = BeautifulSoup(unquote(match.group(1)))
print description_html.text
Alternatively, you can take a high-level approach and use a real browser with the help of selenium:
from selenium import webdriver
url = "http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/1597805483"
driver = webdriver.Firefox()
driver.get(url)
iframe = driver.find_element_by_id('bookDesc_iframe')
driver.switch_to.frame(iframe)
print driver.find_element_by_id('iframeContent').text
driver.close()
Produces a much more nicer formatted output:
A Fantastic Anthology Combining the Love of Science Fiction with Our National Pastime
Of all the sports played across the globe, none has more curses and superstitions than baseball, America’s national pastime.
Field of Fantasies delves right into that superstition with short stories written by several key authors about baseball and the supernatural. Here you'll encounter ghostly apparitions in the stands, a strangely charming vampire double-play combination, one fan who can call every shot and another who can see the past, a sad alternate-reality for the game's most famous player, unlikely appearances on the field by famous personalities from Stephen Crane to Fidel Castro, a hilariously humble teenage phenom, and much more. In this wonderful anthology are stories from such award-winning writers as:
Stephen King and Stewart O’Nan
Jack Kerouac
Karen Joy Fowler
Rod Serling
W. P. Kinsella
And many more!
Never has a book combined the incredible with great baseball fiction like Field of Fantasies. This wide-ranging collection reaches from some of the earliest classics from the pulp era and baseball's golden age, all the way to material appearing here for the first time in a print edition. Whether you love the game or just great fiction, these stories will appeal to all, as the writers in this anthology bring great storytelling of the strange and supernatural to the plate, inning after inning.
