New (re-)releases

Attempts to get us to buy books we already have are the new rage. First, there's "deluxe" edition of Gravity's Rainbow being promised at Amazon, and thehowlingfantods.com reports a "10th anniversary" edition of Infinite Jest will feature a foreword by Dave Eggers.

it's interesting that you mention that - i've been thinking the same thing about movies & dvds.

(i must admit, though.. owning a 10th anniversary edition of Infinite Jest is tempting. what do you all think of dave eggers, by the way?)

I've been having a bit trouble getting into Eggers, possibly because I don't always like confessional writing, so the writing has to be really extraordinary. Don't get me wrong, I like what I've read so far, but I'm not diving in the way I immersed myself in David Foster Wallace.

I'm interested in the new edition of Infinite Jest, but mostly because mine is so tattered. A book that hefty probably shouldn't have been released as a paperback!

i liked a heartbreaking work of staggering genius a lot, and also really liked a good deal of the design & incidental writing in early mcsweeney's (copyright pages etc.) but haven't followed eggers' fiction at all.

however: his intro (preface?) to 40 stories was completely inane and doesn't set a good precedent for the IJ rerelease. the early word on which, by the way, was that it would be coming in at a lower price point to attract a new generation of readers. i'm not sure if that means they're retreating to the pb's original price ($15) or going even lower—which i think would probably entail a change to the trim size (there's a fairly compact UK edition that i'm not sure about the in-print status of).

hmm...there was an article online a month or two ago (maybe @ slate.com) about how Eggers' initial review of Infinite Jest was pretty much a pan, and the article brought out the interesting point that if someone changes their mind about a piece of literature, shouldn't they own up do doing so and give their reasons as to why? c'est interesment.

I've got a copy of the 10th anniversary edition of Infinite Jest. They made it compact, almost train-able, and retailed it at $10, so I think a successful re-issue. I'm sure anyone who had to lug one of the older paperbacks around will appreciate the chance to re-read it without the back strain. I'm not exactly sure how excited I am to read about Egger's perspective on the work though. I've always respected his work with high school students, but I'm reading his newest "novel" and it's put me off of him a bit. What is the What is certainly compelling reading, but, as it is the "autobiography" of a Lost Boy of Sudan, I don't know how it couldn't be compelling. I was expecting Eggers to use his skills as a writer to illuminate issues and ideas beyond the perpetual tragedy of his narrator's life and so far he hasn't. It's more like journalism than novel writing and if he was going to present it as such, why novelize at all? I haven't finished it yet and I hold out hope.

Anyway, if you haven't read IJ yet (though it would seem a near pre-requesite for interest in American post-modernism) the 10th anniversary is a perfect way to try it.

if amazon dimensions are to be trusted the IJ reissue lost about 10% of its height due to the thinner paper, but picked the .2" back up widthwise.

eggers's foreword ended up getting published online:

http://www.laweekly.com/art+books/books/jest-fest/14990/

as for how a lost boys novel could end up not be compelling reading i invite you to examine landfills full of horrible holocaust fiction. but nonetheless i've heard almost exclusively good things about what is the what.

I don't know if IJ is the prerequisite. While Foster-Wallace is clever and a very in-depth writer, I think that he glances over the issues that make PM what it is.

the new edition of IJ is also just going for 10 doallsr! sounds like something spun off from the world of entertainment, doesn't it? ;-)