Remember Errol Lincoln Uys, James Michener‘s helpmate on The Covnenant? Uys also wrote his own epic novel, Brazil, which was first published in 1986, and he emailed recently to let us know that a new electronic edition was available for Amazon.com‘s Kindle—and that he had also created a free online guide to the novel, links to which were included throughout the ebook. The guide includes several photographs and historical illustrations (some of which some readers may find NSFW) and links to the journal he kept when he went down to Brazil for research.
“Not every book lends itself to such in-depth treatment,” Uys writes, “but for a historical novel like Brazil—a subject of which few North American readers have background knowledge—Kindle is revolutionary. The novel guide offers a window on the past, and insights on the future of the awakening giant to the south. It also gives the reader a unique look into the mind of a writer and the often haunting and unforgettable images that inspired my words.” And, one might add, it’s something that authors and publishers should be thinking about for print books as well as electronic ones—especially once hyperink blurs the boundary between print and electronica.