Randall Flagg
01-03-2008, 02:52 PM
Does anyone here recall the controversy/discussion over a purported copy of The Shining with Richard Bachman listed as author?
After reading the following and looking at the pictures, I think it was a great hoax, done by someone with very good Photoshop skills.
Thoughts?
Body of discussion and photos:
The Bachman Shining
On January 11th of 2006, an Ebay member known as "antiquebasics1985" ran an auction for a very unusual first-edition copy of the novel "The Shining". While appearing to be a true, if somewhat worn, first edition of the Doubleday book first published in 1977, the author information on both the hardcover spine and dustjacket attribute the novel to "Richard Bachman", rather than Stephen King. As fans of Stephen King's fiction know, Richard Bachman is a pseudonym King wrote several books under during the seventies and eighties. King finally reluctantly admitted the identity of Bachman and rewrote Bachman's bio, announcing the fictional author's untimely demise (King cited "cancer of the pseudonym" as the cause of death). The seller of the unusual first edition of what came to be called "The Bachman Shining" seemed unaware of the significance of Bachman's name, but did mention that he or she believed the book had been written by King, and supposed that the book represented a rare miss-print.
Controversy
Within twenty-four hours, the Ebay auction of the Bachman Shining was met with a storm of curiosity and controversy. The Associated Press released a story about the enigmatic auction, interviewing a former publishing executive who suggested that the strange book might have been part of a once-proposed plan by Doubleday to capitalize on the Bachman/King controversy. Yahoo and MSN both ran the AP story, resulting in a flood of curious onlookers to the Ebay auction. Doubleday, when approached by Ebay fraud specialists, called the Bachman Shining an "amusing but ridiculous forgery". The statement was then retracted, with a Doubleday spokesperson claiming that "no conclusive judgement could be made" about the book. Ebay, after suspending the auction, reinstated it with a legal disclaimer. Finally, after its three day run, the auction, which had begun with a fifty dollar opening bid, ended with a last known bid of nearly $18,000.
Strange Silence
Almost immediately, all refererence to the auction was pulled. No information was released regarding the buyer. Additionally, the seller, antiquebasics1985, who had sold a wide variety of antiques and collectibles on Ebay with many good ratings, was apparently either renamed or removed from the site. No correspondence with Ebay regarding these events has been returned.
The Enigma
In the absence of any further information about the Bachman Shining, it's seller or buyer, we are left with only the images used on the Ebay auction, which are fortunately fairly large scans and photographs. Using these, we have been able to compare the Bachman Shining to a standard Stephen King first edition and have catalogued several very intriguing and curious facts about this very enigmatic book:
The Bachman Edition bio photo and text appear on the inside rear flap of the dustjacket in exactly the same place, and using the exact same font style and size as the King version. The photo of Bachman is not the same as the one used by King to represent Bachman, although it shows a younger man with very similar features.
The Bachman photo is made up of a dot-matrix gradation system (such as that used in newspaper photos), rather than a modern DPI system. Further, the dot matrix aspect ratio is exactly the same as that of the corresponding King bio photo in the standard first edition.
The Bachman Shining bio includes a reference to Bachman's son and gives him a name (George). No name was ever given for Bachman's fictional son in the official biographies issued by King and Doubleday.
Bachman's embossed name on the hardcover spine of the Bachman Shining perfectly matches the weave of the cloth, disputing claims that the image has been digitally forged.
The author name on the dustjacket of both the Bachman Shining and the standard King edition uses an original font, not easily duplicated.
The Bachman Shining is observably in medium to poor condition, exhibiting stains, a yellowed and creased dustjacket, a broken spine, and many cracks and nicks. This is a rarity among forgers, since faking age signs is notoriously difficult, as well as for the very pragmatic reason that poor quality books have a much lower value.
Officially unnoticed during the auction, The ISBN number of the Bachman Shining is slightly different than the stadard King edition. According to the Library of Congress, no book has been published with that ISBN number.These are the facts and the enigma of the Bachman Shining. One more element of the mystery can be added to the overall story, although any connections are, at this point, purely speculative.
"Not He Who Tells"
In late January, a short story began circulating online, first through file-sharing networks such as Gnutella, and then more openly on some fiction and horror related blogs and websites. The story, titled "Not He Who Tells" (although some postings say it is untitled) most notably appeared on www.kingfanweb.com, where it became the center of some very heated debate and argument. Officially anonymous, the story follows the rather threatening adventures of a very famous horror writer who, while considering retirement, comes face-to-face (so to speak) with the reality of fiction and the potentially dire repercussions of what retirement might mean for him. According to various accounts, the story was discovered abandoned in a library in either Pennsylvania or Upstate New York, neatly typewritten and left anonymously on a table in a seldom used corner. The librarian who discovered the manuscript evidently transcribed the pages and released them online either to discover the author or to simply share the discovery, with the belief that the story might be the work of someone famous. A casual reading of the story does indeed remind one stylistically of both King and Bachman (specifically Bachman's "Rage" and "The Long Walk"), but with certain apparently deliberate differences.
Theories
The timing of the story's release, and the stylistic similarities it embodies, would seem to hint at a conspiracy of some kind. More than one person has posited that the Bachman Shining and the mysterious release of "Not He Who Tells" represents a "viral" marketing ploy by King (or more likely Simon & Schuster, his current publisher) to excite interest in his latest release, "Cell". If this is the case, then one must assume that the ploy is an abysmall failure, considering the virtual media blackout regarding the Bachman Shining since the Ebay auction ended. Still, much has been said about "Not He Who Tells", it's similarities to Bachman's works, and the apparently not-quite-coincidental appearance of the enigmatic Bachman Shining, seeming to imply a possible "resurrection" of Bachman himself. Or, if one were to believe some of the stories, and even "Not He Who Tells" itself, then perhaps even more inexplicable and strange things may be in play than a mere publisher's marketing ploy.
We may never know the full truth behind the Bachman Shining and "Not He Who Tells", but this writer will share any further updates as soon as any new information becomes available.
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5533/shiningcover1bf5.jpg
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/881/shiningbindingvz4.jpg
Web link to more photos and site (http://www.bachmanshining.com/)
After reading the following and looking at the pictures, I think it was a great hoax, done by someone with very good Photoshop skills.
Thoughts?
Body of discussion and photos:
The Bachman Shining
On January 11th of 2006, an Ebay member known as "antiquebasics1985" ran an auction for a very unusual first-edition copy of the novel "The Shining". While appearing to be a true, if somewhat worn, first edition of the Doubleday book first published in 1977, the author information on both the hardcover spine and dustjacket attribute the novel to "Richard Bachman", rather than Stephen King. As fans of Stephen King's fiction know, Richard Bachman is a pseudonym King wrote several books under during the seventies and eighties. King finally reluctantly admitted the identity of Bachman and rewrote Bachman's bio, announcing the fictional author's untimely demise (King cited "cancer of the pseudonym" as the cause of death). The seller of the unusual first edition of what came to be called "The Bachman Shining" seemed unaware of the significance of Bachman's name, but did mention that he or she believed the book had been written by King, and supposed that the book represented a rare miss-print.
Controversy
Within twenty-four hours, the Ebay auction of the Bachman Shining was met with a storm of curiosity and controversy. The Associated Press released a story about the enigmatic auction, interviewing a former publishing executive who suggested that the strange book might have been part of a once-proposed plan by Doubleday to capitalize on the Bachman/King controversy. Yahoo and MSN both ran the AP story, resulting in a flood of curious onlookers to the Ebay auction. Doubleday, when approached by Ebay fraud specialists, called the Bachman Shining an "amusing but ridiculous forgery". The statement was then retracted, with a Doubleday spokesperson claiming that "no conclusive judgement could be made" about the book. Ebay, after suspending the auction, reinstated it with a legal disclaimer. Finally, after its three day run, the auction, which had begun with a fifty dollar opening bid, ended with a last known bid of nearly $18,000.
Strange Silence
Almost immediately, all refererence to the auction was pulled. No information was released regarding the buyer. Additionally, the seller, antiquebasics1985, who had sold a wide variety of antiques and collectibles on Ebay with many good ratings, was apparently either renamed or removed from the site. No correspondence with Ebay regarding these events has been returned.
The Enigma
In the absence of any further information about the Bachman Shining, it's seller or buyer, we are left with only the images used on the Ebay auction, which are fortunately fairly large scans and photographs. Using these, we have been able to compare the Bachman Shining to a standard Stephen King first edition and have catalogued several very intriguing and curious facts about this very enigmatic book:
The Bachman Edition bio photo and text appear on the inside rear flap of the dustjacket in exactly the same place, and using the exact same font style and size as the King version. The photo of Bachman is not the same as the one used by King to represent Bachman, although it shows a younger man with very similar features.
The Bachman photo is made up of a dot-matrix gradation system (such as that used in newspaper photos), rather than a modern DPI system. Further, the dot matrix aspect ratio is exactly the same as that of the corresponding King bio photo in the standard first edition.
The Bachman Shining bio includes a reference to Bachman's son and gives him a name (George). No name was ever given for Bachman's fictional son in the official biographies issued by King and Doubleday.
Bachman's embossed name on the hardcover spine of the Bachman Shining perfectly matches the weave of the cloth, disputing claims that the image has been digitally forged.
The author name on the dustjacket of both the Bachman Shining and the standard King edition uses an original font, not easily duplicated.
The Bachman Shining is observably in medium to poor condition, exhibiting stains, a yellowed and creased dustjacket, a broken spine, and many cracks and nicks. This is a rarity among forgers, since faking age signs is notoriously difficult, as well as for the very pragmatic reason that poor quality books have a much lower value.
Officially unnoticed during the auction, The ISBN number of the Bachman Shining is slightly different than the stadard King edition. According to the Library of Congress, no book has been published with that ISBN number.These are the facts and the enigma of the Bachman Shining. One more element of the mystery can be added to the overall story, although any connections are, at this point, purely speculative.
"Not He Who Tells"
In late January, a short story began circulating online, first through file-sharing networks such as Gnutella, and then more openly on some fiction and horror related blogs and websites. The story, titled "Not He Who Tells" (although some postings say it is untitled) most notably appeared on www.kingfanweb.com, where it became the center of some very heated debate and argument. Officially anonymous, the story follows the rather threatening adventures of a very famous horror writer who, while considering retirement, comes face-to-face (so to speak) with the reality of fiction and the potentially dire repercussions of what retirement might mean for him. According to various accounts, the story was discovered abandoned in a library in either Pennsylvania or Upstate New York, neatly typewritten and left anonymously on a table in a seldom used corner. The librarian who discovered the manuscript evidently transcribed the pages and released them online either to discover the author or to simply share the discovery, with the belief that the story might be the work of someone famous. A casual reading of the story does indeed remind one stylistically of both King and Bachman (specifically Bachman's "Rage" and "The Long Walk"), but with certain apparently deliberate differences.
Theories
The timing of the story's release, and the stylistic similarities it embodies, would seem to hint at a conspiracy of some kind. More than one person has posited that the Bachman Shining and the mysterious release of "Not He Who Tells" represents a "viral" marketing ploy by King (or more likely Simon & Schuster, his current publisher) to excite interest in his latest release, "Cell". If this is the case, then one must assume that the ploy is an abysmall failure, considering the virtual media blackout regarding the Bachman Shining since the Ebay auction ended. Still, much has been said about "Not He Who Tells", it's similarities to Bachman's works, and the apparently not-quite-coincidental appearance of the enigmatic Bachman Shining, seeming to imply a possible "resurrection" of Bachman himself. Or, if one were to believe some of the stories, and even "Not He Who Tells" itself, then perhaps even more inexplicable and strange things may be in play than a mere publisher's marketing ploy.
We may never know the full truth behind the Bachman Shining and "Not He Who Tells", but this writer will share any further updates as soon as any new information becomes available.
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5533/shiningcover1bf5.jpg
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/881/shiningbindingvz4.jpg
Web link to more photos and site (http://www.bachmanshining.com/)