The Princess Bride

The full title of this novel is The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure; The “Good Parts” Version Abridged by William Goldman. The author presents the novel as a rerelease of an older “Florinese” novel. The author does not specify its publication year, but it was well established in the fictional Goldman’s childhood, approximately 30 years before this book was published in 1973. When (supposedly) discussing it with his publisher, Goldman states that its release was “just after World War I” (25). Goldman says he carried his childhood experience of the book with him until he wanted to share it with his own son, at which point he discovered that the original novel was a heavily overwritten satire of Florinese history. He then arranged to release a heavily abridged edition with his own comments about certain editorial changes.

In reality, both S. Morgenstern and the country of Florin are entirely fictional, as is the “original” novel on which Goldman ostensibly based his own. In 1973, however, Goldman fooled a generation of readers into believing there was a rare out-of-print edition of a hefty novel by a bitter Florinese writer.