After the secrecy, a blunder or two (Little & Brown UK named Barry Fairbrother, the protagonist, Barry Fairweather in the original press release) and much confusion about page count and shelf price, the final details are out.
Little, Brown and Company has released the cover for The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling, along with updated cover copy, details of the audio reader, and confirmed page count. You can take a peek at the cover and the Little, Brown and Company’s full release here.
If ever we needed an example of a book prepared for market as a product this is it.
The release shows that a book like this is treated solely as merchandise; a product to circulate and generate profits as befits the values of our comatose society; an item bound to market laws. Yet, books exist as a cultural value; they must have dignity besides price and from what I’ve seen and read culture and dignity didn’t enter into the marketer’s equation.
The cover is garish and artistically talentless, but a masterpiece of marketing savvy: it has been designed to stand out, to be seen and immediately identified. Its content is irrelevant; what matter is that wherever a reader carries the bright-orange cover with a yellow trim and a large black X in a ballot field others know he’s forked out a pile of bucks (more about that later) for the privilege.
As to the blurb, I’m at a loss for words and I’ll let you derive your own conclusions. But it saddens me to reflect that had any of us mongrel scribes sent a query with such a synopsis, our chances of an encouraging reply would be nil.
When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.
Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.
Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems.
And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity, and unexpected revelations?
Great stuff. “Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…” Pray, the rich have always been at war with the poor, and teenagers with their parents, and wives with their husbands and teachers with their pupils. Perhaps I’m missing something but the description fits my neighborhood, and my town, and every town in every country I know. What’s so hot about the plot?
The release has this to say about the cultural content of the book:
A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J. K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.
I can only comment on the cover, the blurb and the price (we’re coming to that). I sincerely hope Rowling shows she’s “a storyteller like no other.”
And, finally, here are the released mechanics and the price readers will have to pay to find out if Rowling can write for adults.
The Casual Vacancy 512 pages
ISBN 978-0-316-22853-4 Hardcover ($35.00) - ISBN 978-0-316-22854-1 Large print hardcover ($39.00) - ISBN 978-0-316-22855-8 E-book ($19.99) - ISBN 978-1-619-69501-6 Audio downloadable ($29.98) - ISBN 978-1-619-69500-9 Audio CD ($44.98)
Yes, that’s right. A digital copy will set you back $20.
After the secrecy, a blunder or two (Little & Brown UK named Barry Fairbrother, the protagonist, Barry Fairweather in the original press release) and much confusion about page count and shelf price, the final details are out.