29 January, 2008

One-of-a-kind

Michael Swanwick bottles fiction: he'll write a short story, seal a copy within a glass bottle, then destroy all drafts and other copies, physical or electronic.  He'll then give away the bottled story, either to a friend or to be auctioned for charity.

The final recipient has a choice: to keep the object (certified authentic & unique) and forego any knowledge of the story, or destroy the object to access the content. It's strictly either/or – one can't have both.

Which would you choose?
I don't think of myself as materialistic, and am only really concerned about the intellectual & emotional content of music, films & prose rather than CDs, DVDs & books as physical objects, but in this case... I'm not sure.

[Via BoingBoing.]