Books Project 1985: Success!

A few days ago, I alluded to a project, "Project 1985", which stemmed from my new, deeply passionate (and possibly illegal) love of the book 1984.  In the post, I said, If all goes according to plan, I'll have something fans of 1984 can buy and hopefully would love to have.  Thanks to DIY publishing site Lulu.com, I'm happy to report that Project 1985 is a complete success!

Here's my test copy, which they sent to me for free - awesome sauce!:

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For the uninitiated - or as a refresher to those who haven't read it in a while - here's what The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism by Emmanual Goldstein, is.

NOTE: Mild spoilers below ('mild' in the sense that I detail a plot point of the story, but I don't give away any endings).

In the story, protagonist Winston dreams of meeting members of an alleged rebellion group, The Brotherhood, when he finally meets O'Brien, a rebel leader, face to face.  They discuss the details and rules of infiltration, and:

Under the pretext of giving him a copy of the latest edition of the Newspeak dictionary, O'Brien gives him "the book", The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, said to have been written by Emmanuel Goldstein, leader of the Brotherhood, which explains the perpetual war and the slogans, WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.
So Collectivism is basically a rebellion manifesto which Winston carries around and reads during the course of the story.  1984 includes most of two of Collectivism's three supposed chapters, so there's exact text available.  Of course it reads exactly like an underground manifesto would, outlining the truer histories of the world to which no one dare pay heed in a Big Brother climate.

And so I decided to make The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism into a real book, which you can buy here direct at Lulu.com, for just $14.68.  I'm not making a dime off of it; it's a buy-to-print model, I just designed it.  (This also helps me avoid any copyright infringement, since it's technically fair use.)

The book is pocket-sized (as is alluded to in the story - and as a manifesto would be), and black as night on the covers.  In the story, Collectivism is supposed to be hidden as a Newspeak dictionary, but I thought I'd just put the title out there in the IRL version, as to intrigue your friends and family as it sits on a bookshelf.

My desire here was to make a simple souvenir for 1984 fans; a takeaway transmedia keepsake (is it trans if it's across the same platform?).  The deeper meaning of this book, of course, as it sits quietly and indiscreetly, is that of a subtle indication of your passive enlistment, as was Winston's, in some abstract real-world, underground community.

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