RURD‘s epic journey to publication was chronicled in a delightful story in McSweeney’s, the magazine cum publishing house that finally accepted the work. Called “An Oral History,” the article recounts the mad rush to fact check the seven volumes of RURD, a task made daunting not only by the length of the series but by the vast erudition apparent on every page. Apparently, the Berkeley library proved invaluable, for both author, who left a trail of notes inside books, and the McSweeney’s editors, too. No point in recounting what the magazine so ably does: read it!
Today, the complete RURD goes for more than $1000 on Amazon and similar sites. But McSweeney’s was kind to work with us here at this website , granting permission to photocopy the books (so students could read them). We appreciate McSweeney’s and William Vollmann’s willingness to make accessible his monumental achievement.