I learned the other day, via an extremely modest royalty payment,1 that the Korean edition of Dreyer’s English had earned out its advance, joining the Chinese edition, which had already done so some months ago.
The Korean edition is a particular extravaganza, a paperback with foil on the cover, and flaps, and a removable belly band. (I mean, no wonder it took so long to earn out, given what it must have cost them to manufacture it.)
Also, the interior is printed in two colors.
Anyway, that was a fun thing to have happen, and I thought it might amuse you to see it.2
In the meantime, it’s almost Father’s Day, and I can’t think of a better passive-aggressive present for your old man than a copy (in the English version, unless your old man reads Chinese or Korean) of that delightful, IISSM, volume Dreyer’s English.
Dog not included.3
It also comes in a UK version, with a unique introduction (called “Englishes”) and an entry on Fanny Cradock, just in case your old man is keen on adding a lot of extraneous u’s to words like “neighbor.”4
And now that it’s cookout and gin-and-tonic season,5 perhaps you’re in need of a picnic-table game that’s fun for the whole family, presuming that the whole family is a bunch of word nerds, in which case you should stock up on Stet!
Dog still not included.6
That’s it for today. Just movin’ the merch. A boy’s gotta eat, y’know. (To say nothing of the dog.)
Happy Tuesday to you all.
“Don’t spend it all in one place,” as my late mother would have said.
Bonus points if you can spot the typo. In the English text, natch. Also, I like to think that there are now a whole bunch of people in Seoul who are really good at “who” and “whom” and the plot of Twelfth Night.
Nor husband.
When the UK hardcover arrived on my US desk, I wondered whether the effect on the front jacket was debossing (embossing except in the other direction, that is). My boss the production wizard pulled out her jeweler’s loupe, peered, and said, “No, it’s clear foil.” To which another person in the room commented, “Oh, I love her in The Crown.”
When is it not, when you think about it.
Sudden flashback to the first time I posted this photo and someone (it was on Twitter, of course) leapt in with “WHY IS YOUR DOG WEARING A SHOCK COLLAR??? WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU???” For the record, that little protuberance is the battery case for Sallie’s flashing disco lights collar, which as far as we could tell amused her no end.
Far East books are so beautiful, even one (I) could never know what the text actually said. One of mine (c. 1977) had the picture of a very attractive Japanaese boy on the back. When I asked why, since it was surely not me, I was informed that he was a popular rock star (it was a book of rock'n'roll quotes) and frankly my portrait might possibly lose sales, not augment them.
belive