The Remote - a novel by Zsolt Kerekes

The Remote

a novel by Zsolt Kerekes

will be launched here - theremote.uk - August 2024
advanced fragment - DeTALES 9.01

W W N
the joined up chat
from - words worth nattering

Unbooked! - 9.01 slams coffin lid on F N Lyre's posthumous memoir
news - October 31, 2079 - the publishers - WordlyLit Productions - regret to announce that DeTALES (Department of Truth and Accountability in Literature, Enforcement Section) has attached a 9.01 censor notice to WordlyLit's preannounced publication - The Remote (the literary book) by F N Lyre citing (among other factors) classification errors:- "non-fiction, memoir, biography, history," and attribution errors:- "work claimed to be the creation of the correctly named author".

Consequently the book has been withdrawn, and all related pre-orders are canceled immediately without further notice.

The publishers will review their application and on the advice of legal counsel have asserted that they will exercise their rights under the TAL Pathways Ammendment to resubmit at the earliest possible date (May 11, 2080). WordlyLit apologizes to readers and its associated publishing outlets for any inconvenience this may cause.

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WWN Editor's Comment:- Speaking as a long established competing publisher (since 2057) you might think I take pleasure in seeing an upstart stumble so hard on its first step. But I have mixed feelings about this.

Undeniably this setback is a great embarrassment for the recently formed WordlyLit which inherited the literary works of the late Effin Lyre and acquired at a snip the business assets of his arrogantly named "the Great Lyre Himself" publishing brand. It must be especially galling to get a 9.01 for this - his last work - given Lyre's many successes in his lifetime skating around the edges of the censorship laws even as they were being drafted.

I can't say I was ever a fan of Effin's writing style - and that was long before that "interview" and the "literary thesis" incidents about which so much has been written elsewhere. Nevertheless, like many others in this strange words business of ours I had developed a sneaking admiration for his longevity twinged with mild envy at his money making prowess so that along with millions of others now bumped out of the preorder queue I had been looking forward to getting a glimpse of what this - his last work - might reveal.

Gven the automatic confiscation of rights and prison sentences which attach to all DeTALES infringements - and this book being whatever it may be - (not political) and therefore likely worth the risk of "piratical" leaks - it looks like we'll have to wait longer to see.

No doubt there will be speculation as to what lies behind the errors cited. Is his memoir really so much a work of fiction?

Apart from the lawsuits in his later life it was always assumed that his projected aura of the hermit was simply a branding statement.

The most peculiar aspect of the errors listed in the press release to my mind however is the attribution factor. One would have thought that given the "hostwriter" (sic) fiasco which precipitated Lyre's exit from the tick-tock of book releases and self-imposed literary exile thereafter the natural questions arising from the 9.01 are:-
  • What's the true backstory behind the banned book? and
  • Who's qualified to judge which parts (if any) were written by him?
There is only one person living who can answer that.

You know who I mean...

But given the venom and animosity which took place between XX (who I don't name here due to that well known settlement which still constrains publishers coupling his name with Lyre's literary works), and the university which awarded XX his PhD and their costly legal battle with Lyre's legal ninjas (which became more popular for a year on author news networks than videos of cats) is there any realistic prospect that these once warring parties - XX and the inheritors of Lyre's books (WordlyLit) would ever agree to bury the hatchet, and collaborate to deliver a definitive answer to the censors which would yield up this book to the public in a timeframe in which anyone might still be interested to read it?

Speaking for myself - as one (still) professionally curious - I'd welcome such a turn of events - however unlikely.

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