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HarperCollins c.e.o. Victoria Barnsley has apologised to Jonathan Franzen after a typesetting error led to his novel being published with punctuation and spelling errors. The press has widely covered the error with the Guardian devoting page three of its Saturday issue to the topic. The publisher has offered to exchange the book for the correct version, which is expected to hit bookshops today.
Barnsley told the Daily Telegraph: 'I'd like to apologise profusely to Jonathan, his readers and our customers that our first edition of Freedom does not reflect the author's final corrected version of the novel. It is a truly magnificent novel and we want everyone to have a chance to appreciate it in the final, fully-corrected version."
According to the Irish Independent, Franzen told an audience in Dublin: "So if you haven't read the book, what I would like to do is tear out the title page, I would be happy to sign that.
"Exchange the book for the right one which will be available by Monday, Tuesday at the latest and read that one instead. If you have already read the book, I will sign it but actually not happily."
The Guardian quotes John Blake, who estimates the 80,000 print run of Freedom would have set HarperCollins back £70,000, with total costs, including distribution, reaching around £100,000. "My heart bleeds for them on every level," he said.