My last post touched on the Pynchon wiki, and a quick visit over there reveals an unexpected problem the wiki’s participants are dealing with:
Just got some, um, interesting news that the paperbacks of Against the Day will be paginated differently from the hardbacks. And, adding insult to injury, the UK paperback won’t be paginated the same as the American paperback. We have to be somewhat amazed at the publishers’ total lack of understanding regarding how Pynchon readers approach Pynchon’s novels, and quite disappointed in the lack of any attempt by the author to respect the interest of his readers.
A page has been set up to discuss the best way to deal with the issue. (Incidentally, isn’t it quite common for paperback editions to be paginated differently than their hardcover counterparts? I’m surprised that the Pynchon fans, in their attention to various minutiae, didn’t already have a contingency plan in place.)
C. Max Magee
created The Millions and is its publisher. He and his family live in New Jersey.
