Why was RAW's Schrödinger's Cat trilogy cut?

July 15, 2011 9:53 PM

Was there ever an official explanation for why Robert Anton Wilson's Schrödinger's Cat trilogy was significantly cut when it was republished in single-volume form? (I can think of several possible explanations, but what I'm looking for is explanations that came from the publisher, RAW himself, etc.)
posted by No-sword to Writing & Language (2 answers total)

I cannot answer your question directly, but Mr. Vitabellosi once asked RAW about the missing Illuminatus! Trilogy content and RAW told him that that missing content was not all of one piece, but a number of edits throughout, made by the publishing company.

That trilogy was published in a one-volume form the same year as your trilogy was published in one-volume form by the same publisher (I think), so it's likely it was publisher editing decisions.

Now, Mr. Vitabellosi asks "What happened to the missing 523 pages of Principia Discordia?"
posted by vitabellosi at 5:36 AM on July 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

A couple of interviews with editors -- David M. Harris and Jim Frenkel -- at Dell at the time that Illuminatus! was published. You might be able to extrapolate from what they say about that trilogy.
posted by seabound_coast at 6:13 AM on July 16, 2011