The following comes from the rara-avis archives, a piece I
sent in just about ten years ago, on Tue, 6 May 1997 12:58:37
-0400 (EDT). (Damn, I been lurkin' this long?) If you guys
are going to talk about Are unpublished novels best left
unpublished? YES!
I once had an idea for a science fiction story: what if the
world had become so Mass Produced, that the most valuable
object d'art would be an unpublished manuscript, the kind in
the bottom of the dreser?
"It's the only one of its kind," the
dealer cooed.
"Signed?" asked the buyer.
"Better than that," the dealer said.
"See, here's the stack of rejections from all the major
publishers and agents of the Twentieth Century!"
"Have you read it?"
"What! Of course not! That would ruin
its virginal status!" The dealer leaned closer and whispered
to the buyer, "It hasn't been read in over a hundred years.
That's what makes it so priceless!"
"You guarantee it's the only one in
existence?"
"Not even a Xerox!" the dealer
boasted.
The buyer said, "Good!" He pulled out
his gun and shot the startled book dealer between the eyes.
He caught the manuscript as the buyer slumped to the floor.
"Now it's mine."
Fred Zackel Cocaine & Blue Eyes Point Blank Press
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