Why don't book publishers try and make a Criterion-esque imprint?

[Mark]

With special features and everything. I guess they have some fancy editions of books, like The Annotated Huckleberry Finn or Ulysses or whatever, but there should be an imprint where they come out with fancy editions of classic and contemporary books with essays and annotations and history and whatnot, all the same stuff they do for DVDs. I mean, there's only been 100 years of cinema, but there's been centuries and centuries of good literature. The pretty covers would be enough of a selling point, I think (just like Criterion DVDs).

[Mark]

I'm so full of genius fucking ideas and no one appreciates it.

[Jim.]

I like it.

[Ben]

Umm...I think you need to go to a bookstore... lots of publishers already do this.

[Travis M. Bierwagen]

In the immortal words of Dr. Egon Spengler...

PRINT IS DEAD.

http://forums.australianinfront.com.au/UserIcons/EgonSpengler.jpg

:lol:

[Mark]

Umm...I think you need to go to a bookstore... lots of publishers already do this.
Like which? I know that Plume recently came out with Centennial Editions of the Ayn Rand and Orwell books with the original cover art and new introductions. The 1984 one is what inspired this idea. But the Centennial Editions were only published because it's the centennial of the authors' births. I'm talking about a uniformed line that represents books from different authors and eras.

[xyzzy]

Norton Critical editions are what you are looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-5099491-7929706 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form//ref=nosim/jinxworld-20)

[DigiEmissary]

Cliffnotes has done stuff like this for Shakespearean works. History, commentary, etc. (though some of the commentary is reaaally biased.)

[Mark]

Norton Critical editions are what you are looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-5099491-7929706 (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form//ref=nosim/jinxworld-20)
Nice, but with the exception of The Metamorphosis, they don't seem to include 20th century works at all. I really think Criterion is the best representation of what I'm thinking of: they have everything from silent films to new releases, and above all, they look motherfucking SNAZZY. The Centennial Editions at least got the snazzy part right, but imagine how cool it'd be to have Moby Dick and American Psycho in the same collection. Or maybe I'm the only one that thinks that that would be cool. Either one.

[Christian Beranek]

We designed the Silent Forest Graphic Novel as a Special Edition DVD.

[Mark]

We designed the Silent Forest Graphic Novel as a Special Edition DVD.
I'm actually starting to see a lot of this in comics, especially Marvel's "Director's Cut" stuff. Just not so much in literature.

[Mark]

I mean, how cool does this look:

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~aahobor/Lucy-Day/Images/Covers-50/The-Fountainhead-Centennial.jpg

I almost bought that just for the design (something that's happened many, many times with Criterion DVDs).

[THWIP!]

I need to read Anthem again.

[Mark]

The Centennial Editions have the original cover art, that's why they look so bitching. You guys should read the Pynchon introduction to 1984 that's in the new edition. It's pretty rad.

[Dannñ B]

Good idea.

[xyzzy]

Nice, but with the exception of The Metamorphosis, they don't seem to include 20th century works at all. I really think Criterion is the best representation of what I'm thinking of: they have everything from silent films to new releases, and above all, they look motherfucking SNAZZY. The Centennial Editions at least got the snazzy part right, but imagine how cool it'd be to have Moby Dick and American Psycho in the same collection. Or maybe I'm the only one that thinks that that would be cool. Either one.

Well, that's not really a complete listing. I had a Norton Critical of Heart of Darkness and I know they do many others.

[Mark]

Well, that's not really a complete listing. I had a Norton Critical of Heart of Darkness and I know they do many others.
Still, I doubt that they have recent books. And they're not that snazzy-looking. The Viking Critical Library is pretty nice, too.

[gwyllgi]

Nifty idea.

For a weirdo. O.o

[Michael John Wheeler]

Like others have said, there is the Norton series. Wonderful stuff.

I bought an edition of Gulliver's Travels that belonged to the Everyman's Library series. It's full of essays and whatnot.

Here's their catalog:

http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/classics/catalog/results.pperl?&sortfield=title_sort

[Mark]

I still think this is a good idea.