THE STAND: World Book Night Edition

25,000 American volunteers are participating in World Book Night this Monday.  The idea is to take free paperbacks to people who have limited access to literature; this includes nursing homes, homeless shelters, foster care and. . . hold on for this one. . . Star Bucks.  (I kid you not!  One person is handing out The Hunger Games at Star Bucks.)

Bunny Hand, who manages the bookstore Mysterious Galaxy, is handing out “The Stand” at a homeless shelter.

John Wilkens article in the U-T San Diego, titled “World Book Night Sheds Light On Reading” writes about Bunny and The Stand:

It’s one of her favorite books, “an incredible story of good against evil at the end of the world,” she said.

Wilkens then notes:

It’s also really long — 1,400 pages — and she figured if a homeless person was only going to get one book this year it would be good to have it take awhile to get through.

In order to accomplish the project, special editions of the books had to be printed.  I presume this includes The Stand.  Wilkens explains:

To make it all work, authors waived their royalties. Publishers and printers made special editions of the books and donated them to the project. UPS delivered them free to bookstores and libraries, which agreed to be pickup points for volunteers. Some stores even hosted parties.

Once again, King's generosity shines.

So here's a nutty thought. . . I wonder if the World Book Night edition of The Stand is any different than the "regular" paperback edition.

Note: I am changing the title of the post, as it was originally titled, "The Stand, Homeless Edition." Following Lilja's lead on this one, as he always has great class and grace.