# Author's "most recent book" was three years in the future. Is there some weird Mandela effect happening here? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 27, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188 "2023-06-27T18:57:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/1 "2023-06-27T18:57:39Z")
I happen to own a book whose title is rather embarrassing, from a sneak bragging perspective, to tell people, but in this case I must: [_The Superior Person’s Book Of Words_ by Peter Bowler.](https://flic.kr/p/2oKXWGr) For anyone interested in unusual and arcane words it’s well worth a read. There are several sequels as well. Anyhow, my wife and I got together in 1995 and she gave me this book on our first Christmas, that year. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53005449432_2df45b242d_b.jpg "Front flyleaf") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/78538399@N00/53005449432/) So yesterday I was idly perusing this volume and happened to notice something very strange in the author bio on the back flyleaf. Note that his nost recent book “_Human Remains_, a whodunit in remarkably bad taste, even for him”, had been (would be?) published in 1998. [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53006105796_f7aff8e4a7_b.jpg "Back flyleaf II") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/78538399@N00/53006105796/) Naturally I assumed this was a misprint, but according to the WorldCat entry for _Human Remains_, the 1998 date is evidently correct: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53006387093_45d4d6db7c_b.jpg "Worldcat entry for 1998 book") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/78538399@N00/53006387093/) For a final bizarre twist, this copy of the book which my wife gave me in 1995 was apparently printed in 2002. See near the bottom of the verso page: [![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53006386833_ef4df01c81_b.jpg "Verso") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/78538399@N00/53006386833/) What could be behind this temporal anomaly? Do authors and publishers ever decide to insert Easter-egg-like jokes to see if anyone will notice? If I contact the publisher will I get a prize for being the last person on Earth to notice? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/2 "2023-06-27T19:04:20Z")
Obviously, wifey lost your original book and substituted a later edition in the hope that you’d never notice. EDIT: Or what @Chronos said. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/3 "2023-06-27T19:04:28Z")
How confident are you that your wife actually gave you the book in 1995, rather than giving it to you in, say, 2003, in commemoration of your meeting in 1995? EDIT: Or what @pjd said. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/4 "2023-06-27T19:13:51Z")
On first glance, I’d say that the “1995 Together Forever” part was written in later. The pen stroke looks a little bit more narrow than the rest of the writing. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/5 "2023-06-27T19:16:13Z")
Yeah, or it’s photoshopped. 😉 Slightly different ink, and very different handwriting. A 2002 printing could have added the mention of the 1998 book, and then someone added in this note about 1995 just to mess with our heads. That or Time Travel. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/6 "2023-06-27T19:25:53Z")
Nelson Mandela didn’t die until 2013, so I don’t think it could be that. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/7 "2023-06-27T19:32:23Z")
This sounds by far the most likely suggestion to me. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/8 "2023-06-27T19:37:39Z")
Wait, is this the book with the script for the original ending of _Big_? 😁 Random note of appreciation for your wife’s lovely legible cursive hand. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/9 "2023-06-27T19:39:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How confident are you that your wife actually gave you the book in 1995, rather than giving it to you in, say, 2003, in commemoration of your meeting in 1995? > > EDIT: Or what @pjd said. Absolutely, 100% confident. It was our first Christmas together and I remember her giving me that book, which she confirms. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/10 "2023-06-27T19:44:20Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Yeah, or it’s photoshopped While it’s conceivably possible that I’m misremembering something, or that the book was surreptitiously replaced, I would never waste people’s time by deliberately faking this. I would expect a mod warning if I did. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/11 "2023-06-27T20:00:43Z")
This is only me, but if I absolutely had to choose between my memory failing vs. the publisher playing a trick, I would pick my memory failing every time. Have you pointed out this anomaly to your wife? Surely she could cast more light on things than any of us, if only to shore up your memory of events. And she might be able to remind you why the inscription was apparently added to after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/12 "2023-06-27T20:19:30Z")
Wait, you’re choosing fallible human memory over tangible objective evidence? This always ends well. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/13 "2023-06-27T20:52:26Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Have you pointed out this anomaly to your wife? While you’re at it, could you ask her what 14 k of g in a f p d means please? 🙂 To be clear, I’m not accusing the OP of leading us on a similar wild goose chase here - it was their reference to such a situation that made me recall this infamous episode. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/14 "2023-06-27T22:21:06Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Have you pointed out this anomaly to your wife? Surely she could cast more light on things than any of us, I mentioned upthread that she confirms my recollection. We could both be wrong of course, but I really don’t think I am. You tend to remember your first Christmas with a new girlfriend or boyfriend. I remember us exchanging the gifts in her house at the time; we still had our own places at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/15 "2023-06-27T22:30:08Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > EDIT: Or what @Chronos said. Has anyone else noticed that @pjd, while writing the first comment, alludes what @Chronos says in the second comment? A comment which by the traditional laws of time and internet forums should not have yet existed. I know, I’m sure it’s possible through some kind of cross posting incident, but it’s rather amusing that it happened here. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.E](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.e/32/8932_2.png) [@Mr.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.E)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/16 "2023-06-27T22:53:57Z")
My theory: You yourself wrote “1995 Forever Together” at some point underneath your wife’s note, after you both developed the mistaken belief that she gave it to you in 1995 rather than sometime after 2002. Subsequently, you forgot that you wrote 1995 after the note, further cementing the idea that the note itself was written in 1995. No doubt she did give you a book for Christmas in 1995, perhaps even a book very much like this one, but this is not the book you remember. 1995 (and 2002) was a long time ago, more than enough to build up a false narrative in your mind until you insist that you impossibly received a Christmas present almost a decade before it existed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/17 "2023-06-27T23:16:05Z")
The only thing that makes sense to me is that your memory(ies) is(are) incorrect. I mean, it’s not a publisher’s or author’s joke. The book is not going to lie about its printing and the year of such. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/18 "2023-06-27T23:17:19Z")
The website on the top of that page is [www.godine.com](http://www.godine.com) That particular website did not exist until October 15th, 1996. You did not receive that exact book in 1995. Period. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/19 "2023-06-27T23:46:59Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > On first glance, I’d say that the “1995 Together Forever” part was written in later. The pen stroke looks a little bit more narrow than the rest of the writing. This is my vote ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188/20 "2023-06-28T00:05:28Z")
No it’s the book that has the illustration of Henry the VIII holding a turkey leg… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/authors-most-recent-book-was-three-years-in-the-future-is-there-some-weird-mandela-effect-happening-here/986188.md?page=2)