The Book of Counted Sorrows

"The Book of Counted Sorrows" was a previously nonexistent book "quoted" in many of Dean Koontz's books.

Rumor

For many years Koontz fans everywhere searched for this elusive book. Many librarians were frustrated in their attempts to locate it because it did not exist. This was confirmed by a librarian from Cedar Rapids Public Library who corresponded with Mr. Koontz regarding this mysterious book. Koontz himself stated that he received up to 3,000 letters per year inquiring about it. He includes a history of the poems in the beginning of the book, followed by the poems, some having never been in any of his books.

In a letter dated 8-10-92, Mr. Koontz stated:

:"Actually, there is no such book. I made it up. The way you made up footnote sources for fabricated facts in high-school English reports. Oh, come on, yes, you did. Sometimes, when I need a bit of verse to convey some of the underlying themes of a section of a novel, I can't find anything applicable, so I write my own and attribute it to this imaginary tome. I figured readers would eventually realize THE BOOK OF COUNTED SORROWS was my own invention, and I never expected that one day librarians and booksellers would be writing from all over the country, asking for help in tracking down this rare and mysterious volume!"

Mr. Koontz went on to say that he would publish such a book in a few years when he has enough verses to fill a volume. According to Shannon Presley of Harvest Books, "Koontz himself wrote the poems, attributed to a Stephen Crane...you can find the collected poems at Veinotte at http://www.veinotte.com/koontz/sorrows.htm".ref|1

In the beginning of a very few books (such as "Odd Thomas"), he quotes from "The Book of Counted Joys".

Creation

In 2003 the book was published in an e-book format offered exclusively through Barnes & Noble. (This version is no longer available for purchase.) Later that year Charnel House published [http://www.charnelhouse.com/sorrows.html two limited editions] of the book: a 1,250 -copy numbered edition and a 26-copy lettered edition. Both editions quickly sold out from the publisher but can be periodically found in the collector's market at prices far in excess of the issue price of $100. As of May 2008, Amazon.com had a copy of the numbered edition listed for sale at $1,000 US.

In 2008 a new, unlimited edition of the book began selling from the store on Dean Koontz's website.

ource

[http://www.cuis.edu/~stumpers/ E-mail from Shannon Presley, October 2001.]