Yeah, there are typos.. But idiotic hn or my gingerbread browser refuses to let me to move the cursor in the text area. So fixing the typos is left as an exercise to the reader.
I'm astonished that this "collection" exists at all, apparently as a 25-copy print run, which no one anywhere seems to have known about previously.
But even more surprising is that the eBay UK seller who sold this copy, presumably to the file-sharer, has sold at least two other copies of the same collection over the past 8 months.
Most astonishing of all: each of them sold for ~$100.
That's about the usual naïf price for obviously-fake art on eBay, and I suspect that when it all comes out, we will learn that these are fakes -- phonies, if you will -- rough cuts or early versions, or at best scribed copies out of Texas and Princeton.
Still, I'm surprised that Salinger fans wouldn't pay more for even the most cloudy-provenanced versions of these stories.
I would have ponied up quite a bit for a copy, but I didn't know about the ebay sale. I wonder how the bidders found it, probably not by searching for it I would imagine. Who would search for a book that basically doesn't exist?
According to Salinger scholars that DO have access to the real prints, these are the real deal. The 'no one anywhere seems to have known about previously' is a false claim because there was a bounty on said file sharing site for these to be uploaded.
The bounty on the file sharing site was for a different collection, with a slightly different set of stories. For what it's worth...
But being "the real deal" isn't always simple when you're talking about a print run of a short story collection.
It's not like validating authenticity of a painting, where the criteria (generally) involve being executed by the hand of the artist. Authors rarely print their own stuff anyway.
But if the author never intended the stories for collection together, or licensed them to a publisher at all...that can make the collection a "fake" even if the stories are perfect matches for the author's finished versions.
Somewhere along the line between drafts and manuscripts and galleys and first run publishing, the collection becomes real.
Salinger scholars and fans knew the stories existed, and knew where to go to read them, but no one seems to have known of a 25-copy print run of these three as a collection. This is surprising, bordering on incredible, given Salinger's prominence.
Salinger plays this Sumerian Son in pop culture that is able to drop the note under a table that exhibits the essence to overcome technological exuberance for the plight of humanity.
On the site where these were uploaded (whatCD), users can post torrent requests. These stories were some of the most requested items on the site, and they had huge ratio bounties.
So when this torrent was uploaded it attracted tons of (unwanted) attention -- the admins panicked and temporarily took the site offline. After thinking it over, they decided to remove the torrent from the site, which didn't actually do much since the file had already made its way onto thousands of other sites.
If I remember correctly, a similar thing happened with a lost Godspeed You! Black Emperor album a couple months ago.
SORT-OF SUMMARY (I didn't write this - it was posted on What.cd's forum by a user)
The story so far. Corrections welcome -- just add them.
Three short stories by J.D. Salinger (1919-2010) were to remain unpublished
until 2060, but were released onto the Internet late 27Nov2013 and removed
early the next day (Thanksgiving morning in the USA).
TWO LIVES
J.D. Salinger (1919-2010) enjoyed his personal creativity better if he
published less because he felt the presence of a public following -- not to
mention reviewers and critics -- was a constraint on his freedom. Salinger
stopped publishing and instructed his estate to release his works piecemeal
over many decades, as if his life as a famous author would only begin after
his life as a private person had ended.
Manuscripts to be kept unpublished could be viewed by scholars (any eager person)
in libraries. The libraries had typescripts of the three stories here,
annotated in margins by Salinger, but not in final form. Why that kind of release?
Because it was society's hubbub over artists that Salinger found constraining,
not the world of the mind.
STORIES IN LIBRARIES
The three short stories now released that were available in libraries:
--"Ocean Full of Bowling Balls" (typescript; important precursor to "Catcher in in the Rye")
--"Paula" (early draft typed by Salinger, his notations in margins)
--"Birthday Boy (1946; early draft typed by Salinger, his notations in margins)
The drafts could be read by scholars under supervision, the first at
Princeton, and the other two at the University of Texas at Austin's Ransom
Center. UT/Austin permitted scholars to make photocopies they were pledged
not to circulate, as did Princeton until the mid-1980s.
The Internet leak did not come from either library, but . . .
25 BOOKS IN LONDON
The three stories were published as a little paperback in London, 1999, in a
limited edition of 25 numbered copies, each of which declared that this
presumably unauthorized act did not constitute publication of the works. The
origin of this private publication is unknown. Old photocopies of the library
typescripts is a possible source, or perhaps Salinger himself had a publisher review
the manuscripts before ceasing all publication a few years later.
The sales attracted no apparent attention from either eBay or the estate of J.D. Salinger.
ON THE INTERNET
The third book sold on eBay was scanned and pdfs of the page images were
uploaded to what.cd. Site administrators removed the copy after being contacted by
lawyers for the estate of J.D. Salinger. However, other sites began to carry copies
(search Salinger Three Stories download).
Scholars say the book is faithful to the manuscripts they saw in libraries.
BOUNTY
The uploader dtauris will keep the bounty.
A what.cd member requested the community at large to provide a copy of some
Salinger short stories (not exactly these three, but these three became acceptable).
That was five years ago, about a year after what.cd was launched. The
autonomous request system permits other members to show their approval of any
request by donating part of their upload credits, creating a community-funded
bounty. The bounty for the 84.49MB Three Stories file grew to over 6
terabytes, the largest in site history.
In 2002, Robert Reid (listen.com, Rhapsody) claimed the "active catalog"
of all 5 major record company labels was 25,000 CDs (Gilder Technology Report 2/2002),
so a 6TB bounty can download every CD in print 2 1/2 ti...
16 comments
[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 41.5 ms ] threadGet luck with one book.
Milk it.
Leave other books to be published 50yrs after death.
That covers both the IP law (50yrs from author death for his previously, milked novel) and the book market desire for posthumous works.
That's the best investment he could have left for his state.
... we're it not for the imminent death of publishing
But even more surprising is that the eBay UK seller who sold this copy, presumably to the file-sharer, has sold at least two other copies of the same collection over the past 8 months.
Most astonishing of all: each of them sold for ~$100.
That's about the usual naïf price for obviously-fake art on eBay, and I suspect that when it all comes out, we will learn that these are fakes -- phonies, if you will -- rough cuts or early versions, or at best scribed copies out of Texas and Princeton.
Still, I'm surprised that Salinger fans wouldn't pay more for even the most cloudy-provenanced versions of these stories.
But being "the real deal" isn't always simple when you're talking about a print run of a short story collection.
It's not like validating authenticity of a painting, where the criteria (generally) involve being executed by the hand of the artist. Authors rarely print their own stuff anyway.
But if the author never intended the stories for collection together, or licensed them to a publisher at all...that can make the collection a "fake" even if the stories are perfect matches for the author's finished versions.
Somewhere along the line between drafts and manuscripts and galleys and first run publishing, the collection becomes real.
Salinger scholars and fans knew the stories existed, and knew where to go to read them, but no one seems to have known of a 25-copy print run of these three as a collection. This is surprising, bordering on incredible, given Salinger's prominence.
On the site where these were uploaded (whatCD), users can post torrent requests. These stories were some of the most requested items on the site, and they had huge ratio bounties.
So when this torrent was uploaded it attracted tons of (unwanted) attention -- the admins panicked and temporarily took the site offline. After thinking it over, they decided to remove the torrent from the site, which didn't actually do much since the file had already made its way onto thousands of other sites.
If I remember correctly, a similar thing happened with a lost Godspeed You! Black Emperor album a couple months ago.
The story so far. Corrections welcome -- just add them.
Three short stories by J.D. Salinger (1919-2010) were to remain unpublished until 2060, but were released onto the Internet late 27Nov2013 and removed early the next day (Thanksgiving morning in the USA).
TWO LIVES
J.D. Salinger (1919-2010) enjoyed his personal creativity better if he published less because he felt the presence of a public following -- not to mention reviewers and critics -- was a constraint on his freedom. Salinger stopped publishing and instructed his estate to release his works piecemeal over many decades, as if his life as a famous author would only begin after his life as a private person had ended.
Manuscripts to be kept unpublished could be viewed by scholars (any eager person) in libraries. The libraries had typescripts of the three stories here, annotated in margins by Salinger, but not in final form. Why that kind of release? Because it was society's hubbub over artists that Salinger found constraining, not the world of the mind.
STORIES IN LIBRARIES The three short stories now released that were available in libraries:
--"Ocean Full of Bowling Balls" (typescript; important precursor to "Catcher in in the Rye") --"Paula" (early draft typed by Salinger, his notations in margins) --"Birthday Boy (1946; early draft typed by Salinger, his notations in margins)
The drafts could be read by scholars under supervision, the first at Princeton, and the other two at the University of Texas at Austin's Ransom Center. UT/Austin permitted scholars to make photocopies they were pledged not to circulate, as did Princeton until the mid-1980s.
The Internet leak did not come from either library, but . . .
25 BOOKS IN LONDON
The three stories were published as a little paperback in London, 1999, in a limited edition of 25 numbered copies, each of which declared that this presumably unauthorized act did not constitute publication of the works. The origin of this private publication is unknown. Old photocopies of the library typescripts is a possible source, or perhaps Salinger himself had a publisher review the manuscripts before ceasing all publication a few years later.
THREE BOOKS ON EBAY
A British bookseller specializing in Salinger sold three of the 25 London books, the first on 17Nov2012. Prices ranged up to 65.50 pounds sterling plus shipping (ca $110). http://feedback.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&ft...
The sales attracted no apparent attention from either eBay or the estate of J.D. Salinger.
ON THE INTERNET
The third book sold on eBay was scanned and pdfs of the page images were uploaded to what.cd. Site administrators removed the copy after being contacted by lawyers for the estate of J.D. Salinger. However, other sites began to carry copies (search Salinger Three Stories download).
Scholars say the book is faithful to the manuscripts they saw in libraries.
BOUNTY
The uploader dtauris will keep the bounty.
A what.cd member requested the community at large to provide a copy of some Salinger short stories (not exactly these three, but these three became acceptable). That was five years ago, about a year after what.cd was launched. The autonomous request system permits other members to show their approval of any request by donating part of their upload credits, creating a community-funded bounty. The bounty for the 84.49MB Three Stories file grew to over 6 terabytes, the largest in site history.
In 2002, Robert Reid (listen.com, Rhapsody) claimed the "active catalog" of all 5 major record company labels was 25,000 CDs (Gilder Technology Report 2/2002), so a 6TB bounty can download every CD in print 2 1/2 ti...