The Hundred Thousand Books of Bellatin

<p>Mario Bellatin is a writer who wants his books always on hand,<br /> not only the texts but the books themselves. What he wants<br /> then<br /> is a section of his studio where<br /> at all times<br /> there will be thousands of physical copies, one hundred thousand, to be exact,<br /> of the books written during his<br /> lifetime.<br /> From now on he will count the years of his life in books and not<br /> in years as most do.<br /> He will turn books and not years, so to speak.<br /> He will compose one hundred titles,<br /> with a first edition of one thousand books each.<br /> The books will go on sale<br /> only if someone is interested in owning them;<br /> these books are made available, not marketed;<br /> they are in a sort of <em>gelatinous state of exchange</em>.<br /> This <em>gelatinous state of exchange</em> can be altered<br /> by Mario Bellatin,<br /> by a reader,<br /> or by circumstance.<br /> The only thing that cannot be modified in this <em>gelatinous state of exchange</em><br /> is the phrase found on the second page of every book: <em>This book is not free</em>…</p>