Hello! I am driving to Athens from Oklahoma, seeing if anyone else on this sub is going and would be interested in grabbing a drink somewhere after, preferably as a group. I have personally never met anyone else that's read Bill and would love the opportunity to discuss his work and the event. Would also appreciate some Athens recommendations for when I'm killing time beforehand. Cheers!

I'm not a completist yet; I've only read Europe Central, Fathers and Crows, Poor People, and The Dying Grass so far, but The Lucky Star, aka “The Lesbian,” was my favorite and is what got me into Vollmann. Maybe because the book popped by Vollmann cherry.

My Target preorder showed up on the 17th, and now it is going to be my main go-to for maximalist literature. As soon as Lookout Cartridge or Darconville’s Cat get reprinted, Target is the first place I’ll look.

(For real, thanks to others who posted about this. I was thrilled to cancel my Amazon preorder from last year)

Only the box set is listed right now, but I think it would make sense to give each volume its own listing.

(I know you can make requests on the Librarians Group page, but it’s hard to actually get noticed due to the amount of requests.)

Hi All - I will be interviewing Bill next week. Are there any questions you would like me to ask him?

I emailed skyhorse about the limited edition and they secured my spot for the upcoming announcement. If anyone else is looking to do so they can email them here limitededitions@skyhorsepublishing.com

"-- It did not matter in which direction one saw, if one saw far enough. The world was a circle, with Him at the center. No matter how one went, one must come to Him --" (Fathers and Crows, p. 662)

WOW! This thing is hella funny. I am constantly laughing OUT LOUD. Enjoying this too much.

Medium-High probability it gets dark soon but the comedy is S tier so far.

This labor of love took me over a decade of relentless searching finally culminating in a 20+ hour pilgrimage to Sacramento last weekend to finally meet Bill, who could not have been kinder and more generous with his time and pen.

This is, as far as I know, every US & UK first edition. Each book on the shelf is signed, including all seven volumes of Rising Up and Rising Down. No remainder marks on any of them. Not pictured is the slipcased edition of Shadows of Love, Shadows of Loneliness (it’s too large for any shelf I own).

Also pictured are inscribed copies of Last Stories and Other Stories and The Atlas, probably my two favorites of his work and the two in the collection I cherish the most.

Anyone from the Saint Louis-area making the drive to Ohio to see Bill speak at Athena Cinema? It's a 7 hr drive from the city, and I am seriously debating making the trip. This will probably be the only chance I will ever get to see this man in person.

By Graham Womack

Hey Y’all, just wanted to share with everyone the information I got from a phone call with Skylight books.

The person I talked to said that all ATFF copies have been claimed by preorder and none will be for sale at the event.

This is, of course, just one person I spoke to at Skylight. So there could be additional information I’m missing.

I would’ve found his acceptance speech very cathartic: For him to be launched into one of our dwindling cultural epicentres, looked the regal Sweeds in the eye and lyrically distilled how fucked we are.

Or is that what he’d say? Maybe we should have a William T.Vollmann Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech essay contest?

I placed my preorder months ago from Thrift Books. I got it for about $100! The last I checked it was due to be shipped on 10.20. Surprisingly, it arrived today!! No notification was sent but it’s here!! So exciting 😎 Let’s go!

Hey all, any word on if a digital release for the new Vollmann will be released? It won't be available in my country physically but I'm hoping to still be able to get a good experience of the different documents and fonts used throughout. This will be my first novel from Vollmann.

Thank you, ThriftBooks.

How is everyone liking it?

Just kidding (mostly)! I'm thrilled to finally get my hands on this behemoth! Although I am curious if anyone will try to tackle it and narrate all 3,096 pages.