Contemplating the footnotes

Dismembering The Thick Book was supposed to make life (reading) easier but I'm now faced with the advice given to me by two highly esteemed figures from the Canadiansport community who also have a foot firmly planted in various intellectual (and pseudo-intellectual) realms. And what to do with the advice about The Footnotes? Based on explanations given by first Mr. Ashdale and then my dear friend the Abbot of Theleme, the footnotes seem to loom larger in my mind now than even The Thick Book itself did - prior to dismembering. But perhaps that's due to my new-found agitation and paranoia. Indeed, now that I've turned The Thick Book into a Carcass and found within it a crazed genius that I don't understand, I have started to wander around in a bit of a daze. Is it both the guilt of killing the increasingly brilliant book and the genius of the words that is mezmerizing me? I don't know. I am digressing. Apologies. But...the footnotes, the damned footnotes - I thought I had it all figured out.

As I assess what I need to do here, I have noticed that the publisher, Back Bay Books, has placed a little circular symbol at the corner of page 981 to presumably assist in the practice of "footnoting" which the Abbot so sweetly described.

As for me, clearly now that I have a Carcass on my hands and not the Fully Intact Book that The Abbot originally, lovingly, painstakingly "footnoted" - I am going to have to find another solution.

I think I'm going to take the easy way out again and further dismember the book.

This pains me. You see despite the fact that I was able to with a clear conscience tear the book apart initially, I have since become attached to the beauty of The Carcass - with it's glowing orange-yellow spine intact. I have also become very comfortable with the Tear From The Top And Put Into Your Denim Back Pocket approach to collecting my pages.

You see, as much as you will hear me rail against The System and Simplemindedness, it seems that I like things Systematic - but (I stress) ONLY when it suits me.

(BTW - this rule trumps all other rules in my life - the Only When It Suits Me rule.)

So, the beautiful spine of The Carcass is now going to be gone forever, simply because DFW overindulged himself - and us - with footnotes. I need to separate the chunk of back pages 983 - 1079.

This is a big chunk of pages.

And, to deal properly and respectfully with the strong and beautiful spine of this Back Bay Books offspring...

I'm going to need something sharp...