Against the Day: Spoiler Protocol

[David Casseres]

Damn but I miss Andrew.

On 10/23/06, davemarc <davemarc at panix.com> wrote:
> Howdy pardners!
>
> By my reckoning, the US release of Against the Day is about a month away.
> Copies have already flown into the hands of any number of people out there.
> The likelihood of leaks increases by the minute!
>
> Which means it's time for me to start fretting over spoiler
> protocol--standards established against the day that anyone on this list
> might wish to share Against the Day information that others might not be
> overly anxious to see.
>
> To prepare for this post, I went back in time. What a nostalgic experience
> it was to return to the exciting months around the release of M&D. Susan
> Argus! Greg Montalbano! Andrew Dinn! Eric Alan Weinstein??? Ah, those were
> the days. Heh.
>
> Anyway, the concerns last time might be corralled into two categories:
> pre-publication leaks and post-publication info giveaways (like having
> someone revealing key information on just after the book appears).
>
> What happened last time (quite successfully with some exceptions, as I
> recall):
>
> *List owner Murthy created a "welcome message" spelling out a spoiler
> protocol for newbies
>
> *Subject headers consisted of "M&D" plus the page number of the highest page
> to which you think your comments relate (so if you were writing about things
> on pages 13 and 133, the header would be something like
>
> M&D 133
>
> "Spoiler" or "Spoiler Warning" could indicate when an especially important
> revelation was being included in the post. The "barebones" aspect of the
> subject header would prevent giveaways from being seen in the subject line,
> help readers determine whether they should check the content, and also,
> possibly, serve as a guide for people looking at the posts at a later date.
>
> *Posts began with blank spaces to keep "textmosis" from occurring content
> via email preview windows. (see below re "textmosis")
>
> *The first organized M&D reading was planned to last a year and done in
> stages that, in theory at least, gave folks a chance to keep up. There was
> continued sensitivity regarding spoiler issues. The book was being reviewed
> in late April, there was book discussion prior to the kickoff of the
> "organized" M&D reading on May 23 (was that one month after the pub
> date?)...and I haven't yet found when protocol stopped applying, but at one
> point the end-of-spoiler protocol discussion revolved around that most
> useful date of June 16.
>
> In advance of reinventing the wheel, below are some posts I brought back
> from the 1990s. It seems like just yesterday!
>
> I've put triple asterisks besides two key posts.
>
> --list nanny d
>
> *
>
> Concern about spoilers and such:
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9704&msg=12396&keywords=spoiler
>
>
> Why many of us care:
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9705&msg=14634&keywords=spoiler
>
>
> John Mascaro uses the word "textmosis"!
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9704&msg=12434&keywords=spoiler
>
>
> Proposed spoiler protocol with proposed "welcome" to new subscribers who
> wish to discuss new book:
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9704&msg=12406&keywords=spoiler
>
>
> Response from dear Susan Argus:
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9704&msg=12411&keywords=spoiler
>
>
> ***Murthy's Spoiler Warning***
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9705&msg=13298&keywords=spoiler
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9705&msg=13549&keywords=spoiler
>
>
> Example (not necessarily a model) of a spoiler protocol post:
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9705&msg=14350&keywords=spoiler
>
>
> ***Andrew Dinn's Awesome M&D Opening***
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9705&msg=15234&keywords=protocol
>
>
> Pro and Con regarding spoiler protocol during the M&D reading
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9705&msg=14793&keywords=spoiler
>
>
> When to end the spoiler protocol
> http://waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l&month=9705&msg=14877&keywords=spoiler
>
>