In a note for the advance copy of his new novel, author Pete Dexter confessed that his ARC arrived three years late, lost 250 pages, and "is further away from the finished product than most advanced readers' editions are."

The Millions transcribed the humorous letter, giving a brief history of how Dexter's "wry, impolitic sense of humor" surfaces in these ARC letters. It should be required reading for all deadline-bound writers and impatient publishers.

Here's more from the note: "At any rate; turns out that bringing a book home three years past deadline presents problems for the publisher. Publications have to be set (again), covers drawn, generous comments collected - god knows how many of my greatest admirers have died while I've been diddling around with this thing - and so you can understand, perhaps, that in the end someone had to put his/her foot down and say enough, and in the end somebody did."