Peter Boxall talks...

I wrote an email to Peter Boxall and he replied this:

Thanks for your email. I am aware that some books are hard or indeed impossible to get hold of. I put 'Adjunct' on the list, in that knowledge, partly because I wanted the book to reflect a range of writing, some of it avant-garde material that is published by very small presses and as a result in very small print runs. Similarly, some books are difficult to get in translation, but I wanted nevertheless to make their presence felt in some way. I suspect this problem will be more marked in the second edition, which is much more international in scope.
I'm sorry if this makes the completion of the list difficult, although I am delighted and deeply impressed that you have set yourself such a goal.
With all best, and thanks again for your thoughts,
Peter.

Are we to assume Mr. Boxall is not aware that there are entire online communities devoted to the attempt to complete the list?

It seems a bit unfair to give the book the title of must read if it is impossible to get hold of some books (and yes, I'm aware there is a series of 1001 Musts). I understand wanting to provide some diversity, or an international scope, but perhaps there were other ways to achieve that?

At any rate, I think it's great that he replied to you and addressed the issue.

I did tell him about this group at librarything.com.

I have replied to him and asked for information on when the second edition will be out...

Wow, he is super quick:

"I think April.
p."

Yeah, I sent a message to him once and got a similar reply, as I told him that some books were hard to get and if this would change in a new edition.

so yay! Seems as though he is keeping his word because I sent that email quite a while ago.

I'm impressed that he responds so quickly!

I also think he has a point - I kind of like that there are some books on the list that are obscure/hard to find/not translated, because otherwise, we may never have known about them. Sure, we may also never get a chance to read them, but at least we know they exist/existed. When you think about how many books have been printed and just disappeared, some of them probably good books, it's kind of cool that at least a few might still be thought about (and perhaps translated, reprinted) because of this list.

I never thought of it that way, Jagmuse. Good point. I'm positive I would never have sought out Adjunct if it wasn't for the 1001 list, and I'm glad I did. It's not so much that the content of the book was so great, but it got me thinking in a whole new way that I hadn't thought before. And that is a good thing. I'm looking forward to discovering other books that would have otherwise slipped beneath my radar.

I don't own the 1001 book, have just glanced at it in the bookstore - but now that there's a second edition being published, I can't help wondering what books we all MUST read, according to the first edition, will be banished from the list in the second edition? Will publication be followed by cries of, "I spent a full three weeks of my life reading (INSERT TITLE HERE), and it's not even on this new list!! AAARRRGGGGHHH!!!"

Yeah, I guess I'm really interested to find out what he changes. ;-) Thanks for this info, plekter!

You are probably right HeathMochaFrost, there will be some AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGGGGGGHHHH!

Then again, you can have one spreadsheet for the first edition, one for the second edition etc...and you can mark your reads accordingly...

Not long til April now...

>8 HeathMochaFrost: This is why I've been waiting for the second edition before making a serious start on the list ;). I'm guessing that the ones most likely to be banished are the third, fourth, and fifth books by any given contemporary author. I hope so, at any rate.

From the publisher:

Dear Bernt,
We are reprinting 1001 Books in April - I'm glad you're looking forward to the book - I can't tell you what the revisions will be - hopefully it will be a nice and interesting surprise for you once it hits the shelves!
Best regards,
Fiona Kellagher

Sweet!

I wonder if they'll make clear in the book which books are new, and what's been omitted? Or if it will just be a matter of comparing the two--personally, I'm on Zoe's side; I don't understand including more than two or three books by the same contemporary author when so many others are overlooked.

I checked Amazon today and there is no listing for a revised edition of 1001 Books to Read Before You Die. Thought that was a bit surprising since it was supposed to be available in April. Anyone have more up-to-date information?

Amazon in the UK appear to have it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/1001-Books-Must-Read-Before/dp/1844036146/ref=sr_1_8?ie=...

It a revised edition with a new cover. I think the reviews and 'search inside' details still refere to the earlier edition, however.

#15 - Thanks for the link. The American Psycho cover is the worst so far!
I'll definitely wait for the US version and hope for a different cover.
But it's still not up on the US Amazon site. There will be a US version, right?

>16 perlle: I'm not sure about different international versions for edition 2, perlle... but I agree that the cover in that link is ugggleeee.

Awwwwww!!! I just purchased this book a few days ago! The one with the beach cover.

If you have difficulty finding books on the list - try your local library. I live in a small city in Denmark and they even found the "Adjunct" for me - from a library in Liverpool!

Otherwise try the Gutenberg Project - lots of e-books avaiable.