[INCOMPLETE] Cleanup: Big Machine

[Drace]

There are errors to clean up with the book Big Machine.

1. All Editions: https://www.goodreads.com/work/editio...

- The Original Publication Date is incorrect. It should be August 11, 2009.

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2. US Hardcover: Big Machine (ISBN 9780385527989)

- The description is incorrect. It should read as follows, transcribed from the jacket:

You made a promise in Cedar Rapids in 2002.

Time to honor it.

Ricky Rice is a middle-aged, middling hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. The sole survivor of a suicide cult, he spends his days scraping by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York, until one day a letter arrives, reminding him of a vow he once made and summoning him to Vermont’s remote Northeast Kingdom to fulfill it.

There, Ricky is inducted into a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard the Voice: a murmur on the wind, a disembodied shout, a whisper in an empty room that may or may not have been from God. Their mission is to find the Voice – and figure out what it wants.

Big Machine takes us from Ricky’s childhood in a beatific cult housed in a New York City tenement to his near-death in the basement of an Iowa house owned by a man named Murder to his final confrontation with an army of true believers – and with his own past.

Infused with the wonder of a disquieting dream and laced with Victor LaValle’s fiendish comic sensibility, Big Machine is a mind-rattling mystery about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us.

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3. US Paperback: Big Machine (ISBN 9780385527996)

- New ACEs of several of Victor LaValle’s books were published this year, but rather than creating ACEs, the cover art on the old editions were changed. This is against Goodreads policy. The cover art change needs to be reverted. If it’s not possible to just undo the cover art edit, the correct cover art is available from an archived version of the publisher site: https://web.archive.org/web/201908081... // https://web.archive.org/web/201908081...

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4. ACE Creation: US Paperback

The following ACE needs to be created:
TITLE: Big Machine
AUTHOR: Victor LaValle
ISBN-10: 0385527993
ISBN-13: 9780385527996
ASIN: 0385527993
PUBLISHER: One World
DATE PUBLISHED: September 2025
NUMBER OF PAGES: 370
FORMAT: Paperback
DESCRIPTION: As a note, the new editions only have a quote from the book on the back cover. I haven’t seen these new editions in person so I’m not able to tell if there’s a cover flap with the description on it, so I am just using the description from the publisher website. If I happen to see one in a bookstore and the description is incorrect, I’ll update this thread or start a new one. Description is as follows.

A “haunting and fresh” (Los Angeles Times) novel about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us that “[draws] comparisons to the work of Ralph Ellison and Thomas Pynchon” (The Wall Street Journal)

Ricky Rice is a middling hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. A survivor of a suicide cult, he scrapes by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York, until one day a mysterious letter arrives, summoning him to enlist in a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom had at some point in their wasted lives heard what may have been the voice of God.

Infused with the wonder of a disquieting dream and laced with Victor LaValle’s fiendish comic sensibility, Big Machine is a mind-rattling mystery about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us.

EDITION LANGUAGE: English
COVER ART: https://images2.penguinrandomhouse.co... // https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...

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5. US Kindle: Big Machine (ASIN B002JRQM5E)

- The publisher is missing. It should be One World.

- The publication date is missing. It should be August 11, 2009.

- The description is incorrect. It should be the same as in Entry #4.

- Current Goodreads policy says to change Kindle cover art to the newest edition rather than creating an ACE. As such, the cover art needs to be changed. Art here: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/A... // https://a.co/d/9wzuyAV

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6. US Ebook: Big Machine (ISBN 9780385530415)

- New ACEs of several of Victor LaValle’s books were published this year, but rather than creating ACEs, the cover art on the old editions were changed. This is against Goodreads policy. The cover art change needs to be reverted.

- The format is incorrect. It should be Ebook.

- The page count is incorrect. It should be 384.

- The publisher is incorrect. It should be One World.

- The description is incorrect. It should be the same as in Entry #4.

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7. ACE Creation: US Ebook

The following ACE needs to be created:
TITLE: Big Machine
AUTHOR: Victor LaValle
ISBN-10: 0385530412
ISBN-13: 9780385530415
ASIN: 0385530412
PUBLISHER: One World
DATE PUBLISHED: September 2025
NUMBER OF PAGES: 384
FORMAT: Ebook
DESCRIPTION: [same as Entry #4]
EDITION LANGUAGE: English
COVER ART: https://images2.penguinrandomhouse.co... // https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...

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8. US Audible: Big Machine (ASIN B07845Y4V1)

- The page count is missing. It should be 13.

- The description is incorrect. It should be the same as #4, but without the bolded paragraph at the beginning.

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9. Missing Edition: US Digital Audiobook

TITLE: Big Machine
AUTHOR: Victor LaValle
NARRATOR: Sean Crisden
ISBN-10: 1541485211
ISBN-13: 9781541485211
ASIN: 1541485211
PUBLISHER: Tantor Media, Inc
DATE PUBLISHED: December 5, 2017
NUMBER OF PAGES: 13
FORMAT: Audiobook
DESCRIPTION: [same as #4, but without the bolded paragraph at the beginning]
EDITION LANGUAGE: English
COVER ART: https://rb-sample-assets.s3.amazonaws... // https://rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/9...

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10. CD Audiobook: Big Machine: A Novel (ISBN 9781665245616)

- “A Novel” needs to be removed from the title.

- The publisher is incorrect. It should be Tantor Audio.

- The publication date is incorrect. It should be December 5, 2017.

- The page count is incorrect. It should be 13.

- The description is formatted incorrectly. There should be a paragraph break between the sentence ending with “...the voice of God.” and the sentence beginning with “Infused with the wonder…”

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11. Library Edition CD Audiobook: Big Machine Lib/E (ISBN 9781665245609)

- “Lib/E” needs to be removed from the title.

- Sean Crisden needs to be added with the Narrator role.

- The page count is incorrect. It should be 13.

- “Library Edition” should be in the Editions field.

- The description is incorrect. It should be the same as #4, but without the bolded paragraph at the beginning.

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12. MP3 CD Audiobook: Big Machine: A Novel (ISBN 9781665245623)

- “A Novel” needs to be removed from the title.

- The publisher is incorrect. It should be Tantor Audio.

- The publication date is incorrect. It should be December 5, 2017.

- The page count is incorrect. It should be 13.

- The format is incorrect. It should be MP3 CD.

- “MP3 CD” needs to be removed from the beginning of the description.

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13. UK Paperback: Big Machine (ISBN 9781842433645)

- The publication date is incorrect. It should be March 24, 2011.

- The description is missing paragraph breaks. It should read as follows:

Ricky Rice is a middle-aged hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. The sole survivor of a suicide cult, he spends his days scraping by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York. Until one day a letter arrives, reminding him of a vow he once made and summoning him to Vermont’s remote Northeast Kingdom to fulfill it.

There, Ricky is inducted into a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom have at some point in their wasted lives heard the Voice: a murmur on the wind, a disembodied shout, a whisper in an empty room. All these may or may not have been messages from God. Their mission is to find the Voice – and figure out what it wants.

Big Machine takes us from Ricky’s childhood in a matrilineal cult housed in a New York City tenement to his near-death experience in the basement of an Iowa house owned by a man named Murder. And to his final confrontation with an army of true believers – and with his own past.

Infused with the wonder of a disquieting dream and laced with Victor LaValle’s fiendish comic sensibility, Big Machine is a mind-rattling mystery about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us.

===

14. Missing Edition: Current UK Ebook

TITLE: Big Machine
AUTHOR: Victor LaValle
ISBN-10: 1842434942
ISBN-13: 9781842434949
ASIN: 1842434942
PUBLISHER: No Exit Press
DATE PUBLISHED: March 24, 2011
NUMBER OF PAGES: [not available]
FORMAT: Ebook
DESCRIPTION: [same as #13]
EDITION LANGUAGE: English
COVER ART: https://bedfordsquarepublishers.co.uk... // https://bedfordsquarepublishers.co.uk...

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15. UK Kindle: Big Machine (ASIN B00796E4LO)

- The list of awards the book won/was nominated for at the end of the description needs to be removed.

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16. Other US Digital Audiobook: Big Machine (ISBN 9781541415218)

- Sean Crisden needs to be added with the Narrator role.

- The page count is incorrect. It should be 13.

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17. Previous UK Ebook: Big Machine (ISBN 9781842434321)

- The format is incorrect. It should be Ebook.

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18. Invalid Editions

All of the following editions need to be marked invalid.

A. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
B. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
C. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
D. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
E. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
F. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

[Óscar]

All done! Changes should be in effect soon

[Drace]

Thank you for your help. Some issues are still left:

On #9, Sean Crisden still needs to be added with the Narrator role.

On #14, the cover art is incorrectly set to previous US cover art. It needs to be changed to the one I linked in the thread.

[Drace]

Bumping for these last two issues.