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My wife and I are thrilled to announce the arrival of our third child (and our third son). He was born Monday evening, and everyone is doing great. Today we are all home enjoying some rest time, and I thought I’d get on here briefly to celebrate with you all. To mark this occasion, it’s time to give away a couple of books.
This “celebration” is not sponsored by any publisher. I am promoting two of my favorites: New Directions and NYRB Classics. So fantastic are the books these two publishers release annually that I am quite confident even if I read books only from their lists I would be satisfied. I would love to give away a brand new copy of one books from each of their lists. So, here is the basic outline of the giveaway:
- Leave a comment.
- In the comment list one New Direction title and one NYRB Classics title from the lists provided below.
- I will draw two names at random on the night of Saturday, October 1. One name will get its New Directions choice, and the other its NYRB Classics choice.
- I will ship anywhere, so this is open to international readers. If you have way too many books already, please enter anyway; if you win you can choose to donate your book to, say, a library.
- If the book the winner chooses is for any reason not available for me to purchase, I reserve the right to request the winner choose another book or forfeit (I don’t anticipate this happening because all of these books should be readily available).
Below find the lists. I have chosen both older and recent books from New Directions and NYRB Classics. For example, Helen DeWitt’s Lightning Rods is hot off the press and I haven’t read it yet. Others I have reviewed and have recommended many times here since this blog began (which was, incidentally, just a few weeks before the birth of my second son).
From New Directions, please choose one of the following books and leave a comment:
- Helen DeWitt: Lightning Rods
- Gert Hofmann: Lichtenberg & the Little Flower Girl (my review here)
- César Aira: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter (my review here)
- László Krasznahorkai: The Melancholy of Resistance (my review here)
- Enrique Vila-Matas: Never Any End to Paris
- B.S. Johnson: The Unfortunates (my review here)
- Horacio Castellanos Moya: Tyrant Memory
- Evelio Rosero: Good Offices
- Javier Marías: All Souls
- Muriel Spark: Not to Disturb (my review here)
From NYRB Classics, please choose one of the following books and leave a comment:
- Brian Moore: The Mangan Inheritance
- Gilbert Highet: Poets in a Landscape
- J.L. Carr: A Month in the Country (my review here)
- Milton Rokeach: The Three Christs of Ypsilanti
- Theodor Fontane: Irretrievable
- John Williams: Butcher’s Crossing (my review here)
- Jean Stafford: The Mountain Lion
- Brian Moore: The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (my review here)
- Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Time of Gifts
- Penelope Mortimer: The Pumpkin Eater
Feel free to spread the word, though I realize that may dilute your chances of winning. Best wishes to all, and good luck!
Congratulations, Trevor and Mrs Mookse! That’s wonderful news:)
Congrats on the great news!
From New Directions: Cesar Aria An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter
From NYRB Classics: JL Carr, A Month in the Country
Thanks
Domenick
Just ordered Helen DeWitt’s new book, so will donate it if I win. Was blown away by her first, The Last Samurai, so all a’tingle waiting for the UPS delivery.
There’s been a lot of buzz lately on Patrick Leigh Fermor’s A Time of Gifts, so that’s my entry from the second list.
Congrats on the new baby (as opposed to the old babies)! Please follow me on Twitter (@Zenjew) if you are so inclined. I tweet a lot on literature, and am a proud member of the Finnegans Wake Society of New York (WakeWatchers), so we have a lot in common.
Congratulations!
Javier Marías: All Souls
Gilbert Highet: Poets in a Landscape
Welcome to the world, Mookselein. You have a very generous daddy. Treat him well! :)
Book choices: Gert Hofmann from New Directions and, the Butcher from NYRB because I’m in the mood for another Western after the very entertaining The Sister Brothers.
that should have read the Williams (or Butcher’s Crossing) from NYRB. But you knew that, didn’t you? Sleep deprivation hasn’t yet kicked in, has it?
Congrats on the new arrival!
From New Directions:César Aira: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter
From NYRB Classics:J.L. Carr: A Month in the Country
Thanks!
Domenick
Congratulations to you all Trevor, wonderful news. Three is a good number, as I can attest. Three boys! They’ll keep you busy.
From your very generous offer, can I pick:
New Directions – The Melancholy of Resistance
NYRB – The Mangan Inheritance
First things first: congratulations, and good health to your family. I read your blog sometimes, but I don’t think I’ve ever commented before. It was Krasznahorkai’s name that caught my eye. I wouldn’t mind reading the book that led to the Werckmeister Harmonies. (Last night, at an event for Banned Book Week, I listened to a novelist say, in a voice that wanted to be described as “defiant,” that there were authors who were proud that their books couldn’t be turned into movies — that their books were too booklike to film — and I wondered if any filmmaker had ever said the same in reverse — if they’d ever boasted that their film was so filmish that it couldn’t be turned into a book — or if that boast never even occurred to them — and what that said about the natures of films and books –)
Well, so:
László Krasznahorkai: The Melancholy of Resistance
Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Time of Gifts
Congratulations to the entire family, and welcome to the wee one.
My choices:
New Directions: Muriel Spark: Not to Disturb
NYRB: Penelope Mortimer: The Pumpkin Eater
Sorry. Didn’t mean to comment twice!!
Congratulations on your new baby, and thank you for doing this. Here are my choices:
New Directions: The Unfortunates by B.S. Johnson
NYRB Classics: The Mangan Inheritance by Brian Moore
(It was a close fight with Not To Disturb by Muriel Spark and Poets In A Landscape by Gilbert Highet, and to be honest, I’m still not sure I made the right choices. This is what happens when certain publishers just put out too many good books!)
Hi Mookse,
Congtrats again, to you and the missus! And this is a great and generous (and fun) idea. I have two definite favorites:
***New Directions: Gert Hofmann: Lichtenberg & the Little Flower Girl
I am a bit of a Germanist, myself.
***NYRB Classics: J.L. Carr: A Month in the Country
This is one you have recommended especially to me, so I’ll be happy if that opportunity arises.
Congrats on the new baby!!Helen Dewitts book &Brian Moores book.What a lovely giveaway!!
What a lovely way to celebrate a new child: with good reading and generosity. May it repay your family many times over.
My choices:
Enrique Vila-Matas: Never Any End to Paris
Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Time of Gifts
congrats on the new baby!
The Unfortunates and
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn
Cheers and congratulations to all of you. How about An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter (New Directions) and The Mountain Lion (NYRB). Thanks for the give-away!
Congratulations, Trevor! We have two boys and we’ve always supposed that if we had a third child, we would have three boys as well.
César Aira: An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter
Brian Moore: The Mangan Inheritance
Thanks!
Congratulations on an autumn baby.
Let’s try Krasznahorkai’s Melancholy of Resistance and Rokeach’s Three Christs of Ypsilanti.
Thanks
Congrats!!
New Directions : Helen DeWitt – Lightning Rods
NYRB – Jean Stafford – The Mountain Lion
Thanks :)
Contratulations to teh newly expanded family!
ND: László Krasznahorkai: The Melancholy of Resistance
NYRB: Milton Rokeach: The Three Christs of Ypsilanti
Cheers,
Congratulations to you and your family Trevor!
I would like to choose:
NYRB: The Mangan Inheritance – Brian Moore
New Directions: All Souls – Javier Marias
Thanks a lot.
Congratulations on the new addition to your family. I’ll go for Helen DeWitt and Milton Rokeach.
Congratulations!
Enrique Vila-Matas: Never Any End to Paris
Milton Rokeach: The Three Christs of Ypsilanti
Thanks!
Congratulations again to Trevor, Mrs. Trevor, the new third(!) son, and the big brothers! Especially congratulations to the big brothers.
As for the celebratory raffle, I select:
Gert Hoffman (Lichtenberg & the Little Flower Girl)
and J.L. Carr. (A Month in the Country)
(In the spirit of reviewing, I wish for the new baby a new Snugglepuppy and a new Goodnight Moon, and for the older ones: Polka Bats and Octopus Slacks, Bats at the Beach, Pete and Pickles, Baseball Hour, Goodnight Gorilla, The One Shoe Blues, Mr. Pusskins, and of course, so many more … The best to everyone!)
congrats on the 3rd kid!
Brian Moore: The Mangan Inheritance
or
Helen DeWitt: Lightning Rods
Thank you!
Congratulations!
Thanks to everyone! By the way, if in the coming days you change your mind about which books you want, please just leave another comment. Only one entry per person, obviously, but I’ll just assume the last comment is your last best choice.
And, again, thanks!
Congratulations, and thanks for the contest…
New Directions: Muriel Spark, Not to Disturb
NYRB: JL Carr, A Month in the Country
Congratulations.
My choices are
Enrique Vila-Matas: Never Any End to Paris
or
J.L. Carr: A Month in the Country.
Cheers
Congratulations! Kids are fun.
Helen DeWitt: Lightning Rods
John Williams: Butcher’s Crossing
Mookse, per your suggestion, please change my entry from the first list to László Krasznahorkai’s The Melancholy of Resistance (instead of DeWitt, which I’ve already ordered). Thanks!
Many congratulations on your new arrival. Long may your blog roll!
Helen DeWitt: Lightning Rods
Patrick Leigh Fermor: A Time of Gifts
Congratulations, and what a lovely, thoughtful and generous way to celebrate!
New Directions: Lightening Rods, by Helen DeWitt (I guess all of us who read “The Last Samurai” are eager for this one)
NYRB: Poets in a Landscape, by Gilbert Highet
Congratulations and thanks for the contest.
My selections are:
Enrique Vila-Matas: Never Any End to Paris
John Williams: Butcher’s Crossing
BABIES! Congratulations on the new bundle-slash-hurricane [three sons!], and please send my regards to your wife. :) Hoping your boys are getting all snuggly.
And thank you for the generous giveaway. Babies, and two of the best publishers? Thank you. :) I’d love to read Never Any End to Paris and The Pumpkin Eater, if Fate smiles favorably upon me.
Just to give an update on timing, I will be drawing two names tonight. I will be out from 8 to 10 p.m. EST and when I get home I will probably move right on to watching the series finale of Doctor Who. So expect to find out if you won aroun 11 p.m. or midnight EST tonight!
Well, what a strange but satisfying series finale for Doctor Who. Have to say, the series started out fantastic but didn’t quite live up to its early promise — not quite, but I still really enjoyed it.
Anyway, on to the results:
New Directions winner is Rhonda, who will be receiving a copy of Helen DeWitt’s Lightning Rods.
NYRB Classics winner is Sasha, who will be receiving Penelope Mortimer’s The Pumpkin Eaters.
Congrats! I will be emailing you two to get your addresses, so please be on the lookout!
Thanks to ALL!
Well, never mind the giveaway – and sorry I’ve only just seen this – but huge congratulations to you all, Trevor. I’m delighted for you. Good luck!