In Which We Confess to A Less-Than-Refined Sense of Humor

October 20th, 2004 · No Comments
by Booksquare

We’re on the anti-piracy record, so we believe we can be forgiven for this transgression:

Latin American literary giant Gabriel Garcia Marquez has won the last laugh on book pirates by finely tuning the ending of his latest novel.

The launch of the Spanish-language version of the book, “Memories of My Melancholy Whores,” was brought forward a week to Wednesday because bootleg copies have begun appearing on the streets of his native Colombia.

But the pirate copies are not the same as the final version of the book, 77-year-old Garcia Marquez’s first novel in 10 years, editor Braulio Peralta said.

“Check the pirate version that is coming out in Colombia compared to the legal version being launched today. All I’m saying is that Gabriel Garcia Marquez changed the last chapter,” Peralta told journalists.

Take that you nasty pirate!

Honestly, we couldn’t resist. Do the type of people who buy pirated Gabriel Garcia Marquez books care so much about whether they have the right ending or not? These are the people who cheerfully buy movies made with recorders stuffed into jacket pockets. They’re used to seeing heads pop up in the frames. Their CDs don’t have original cover art or liner notes. Yes, yes, of course we approve of proactive anti-piracy action, but last laugh?

File Under: Books/Mags/Blogs