PINBALL IN PRINT


Date: 4th August 2015

His name is Haruki Murakami and he is the international bestselling author of novels such as A Wild Sheep Chase, Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore.

His latest publication is the reason we were in Central London, heading down to Piccadilly Circus and the flagship store for the Waterstones book shop chain.

On our way down to Piccadilly
On our way down to Piccadilly

Waterstones in the old Simpsons of Piccadilly building
Waterstones in the old Simpsons of Piccadilly building

Penguin Random House were launching a back-to-back special edition of Murakami's first two novels, entitled Hear the Wind Sing and Pinball, 1973 - the first time these two novels have been published in the UK.  These two, together with A Wild Sheep Chase, form the so-called Trilogy of the Rat, named after the protagonist's friend in the stories.  This special edition - referred to simply as Wind/Pinball - is printed as a reversible hardback, with the Pinball side featuring a die-cut front cover.

The special edition of the two novels
The special edition of the two novels

To celebrate the launch, Penguin Random House arranged for electromechanical pinball machines to be placed in the London Piccadilly Circus and Glasgow Sauchiehall Street branches of Waterstones for the day and invited members of the public to play them.

The display next to the main entrance
The display next to the main entrance

Both machines had custom cabinet and backbox artwork designed to match the book's cover artwork.

The artwork was created by Rosie who is playing the machine
The artwork was created by Rosie who is playing the machine

The London machine was a Williams' Lady Luck which had been modified so it was only a single player and didn't reset, giving a single game with an unlimited number of balls. In the Glasgow branch they had a Paddock machine, also by Williams.

Members of the UK Pinball League turned up to help support the launch, posing for pictures with the customised machine.

Chris Poyntz (left) and Lukasz Romanowski (right) from the UK Pinball League join Will and Rosie from Penguin Random House
Chris Poyntz (left) and Lukasz Romanowski (right) from the UK Pinball League join Will and Rosie from Penguin Random House


Chris gets to play the customised Lady Luck

The special edition of Wind/Pinball is available from Waterstones for £12.99 ($20.21/€18.51), and in a more conventional form from other book sellers.


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