A few days ago, I received a copy of Jonathan Lethem’s How We Got Inspid, a 1500-copy limited edition hardcover which reprints two of Lethem’s previously uncollected stories, “The Insipid Profession of Jonathan Hornebom,” and “How We Got in Town and Out Again,” and includes an original afterword by the author.

Along with the book was a somewhat puzzling note.  It says that the publisher can’t send review copies of the book to trade journals or to book reviewers for newspapers or magazines.  Why?  I’m guessing that Lethem’s regular publisher–the one who’s publishing his novels that keep making the bestseller lists–are afraid that Subterranean publishing this collection might somehow interfere with their corporate marketing machine and/or cut into Lethem’s sales of the books they publish.  Not only that, but Subterranean is also forbidden from selling the book in stores via normal channels.  And all of this is actually contractually forbidden. 

So, given the handcuffs placed on Subterranean’s marketing efforts, I guess we’ll find out if bloggers and other non-traditional review sources can be just as effective at selling books as Publishers Weekly, The New York Times, and the rest. 

I haven’t read the book yet, but I’ll post some thoughts once I have the chance to take a look at it.