Unedited "From Here to Eternity" @ Amazon - beginning May 10

[rkolinski]

"I just read this morning in the New York Times that James Jones masterpiece wil be available starting May 10th as well as his "To the End of the War." A new afterword for "From Here to Eternity" is written by George Hendrick, an emeritus English professor from the University of Illinois. "The new digital edition, he said, "presents the material even more turthfully than the print edition."

"The text we have has been read by millions of people, and clearly it has been on the major novels of the middle- and late-20th century," Mr. Hendrick said. "But what was left out of the novel because of the editing in 1950 and 1951 left out many of the gritty details."

The novel was turned into a classic movie with one of the most memorable heterosexual sex scenes of all time, a passionate romp on the beach starring Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr.

Mr. Hendrick said two scenes that had homosexual content were cut from the original version of the book and have been restored in the digital version. In one, a soldier, Pvt. Angelo Maggio (played by Frank Sinatra in the 1953 movie) mentions how he has oral sex with a wealthy man in exchange for $5 or $10 that "comes in handy the middle of the month." Another deals with a military investigation into possible homosexual activity."

Jane Friedman, a former president and chef executive of HarperCollins Publishers, who is a co-founder and chief executive of Open Road, said that republishing Mr. Jone's books was an example of Open Road's mission "to bring the greats back to life."

"We feel that so much of what's in "From Hereto Eternity" will start some conversations in the culture," she said."

[SOURCE: NY TIMES, The Arts, April 5, 2011]