Michael Casey | The Image Mirror

IT’S TIME TO PLAY SPOT THE PUBLISHING BLOOPER!

       During my book’s meandering journey from manuscript to final edition, an inconsequential but somewhat irksome mistake was inserted into an early draft and then subsequently missed by every single one of the dozens of eyeballs that passed over it before publication. It can be found on the first page of the first chapter. As far as we know, there are no other errors in the book and this is not an invitation to tear the text apart in search of others. But I am interested to find out how many people easily spot this one. 
 

       It’s an immaterial error; it changes nothing in terms of the meaning of the work. I bear no ill will toward the very talented and otherwise extremely thorough team at Vintage for not catching it. After all, they were the ones who ultimately alerted me to it, not the various reviewers or numerous other outsiders who have since read the book. And of course I also never caught it. In fact, I’m indulging myself in regarding our collective failure to spot this flaw in terms of a key theme of Che’s Afterlife. One could argue that it reflects the same thought processes through which human societies create idealized icons like Che’s. In focusing on the elegant essence of a broader idea - on the big picture instead of the minutiae - whole communities become blind to the imperfections of the reality behind it. To put a twist on a common expression, we often miss the trees for the forest. So, tell me, who can see that felled pine within the lovely stand of conifers on page 25?
 
       Now, the last thing I want is for people to remember this blemish and not the book as a whole. So don’t waste too much valuable reading time in this exercise. There’s no cash prize involved! Still, it might be fun to see whether now, by alerting readers to its presence, I’ve opened their eyes to a flaw that was missed by so many before them. So please let me know whether you can or cannot  find the mistake via email (michaeljcasey@gmail.com) or via private message on Facebook. (This same little social experiment will also run through the Facebook group page for Che’s Afterlife.)  If you do spot it, tell me whether it was obvious to you at first glance or whether it demanded a second or third read. I’ll publish the findings in due time. For those of you who have not yet bought a copy, here’s a great incentive to do so!