Friday, November 18, 2011

Friday Freebie: Glass by Sam Savage


Congratulations to Nathan Phillips, winner of last week's Friday Freebie: Catch-22: 50th Anniversary Edition.

This week's book giveaway is Glass, a novel by Sam Savage which was released a couple of months ago by Coffee House Press ("where good books are brewing").  As anyone who read Firmin (Savage's previous novel about a bookstore rat) can tell you, the septuagenarian author excels at "blending philosophy and abundant literary references with originality" (Booklist).  Glass follows in the same rich metafiction vein, rewarding the book-obsessed* at every turn.  Here's how the publisher describes the novel:
Tasked with writing the preface to a reissue of her late husband’s long-out-of-print novel, Edna is unexpectedly asked to take care of a vacationing neighbor’s pet rat, an aquarium of fish, and an apartment full of potted plants. Sitting at her typewriter day after day, her mind drifts from one thing to another in a Proustian marathon of introspection. What eventually unfolds, as if by accident, is the story of a marriage and a portrait of a mind pushed to its limits. The reader is never quite certain if Edna’s preface is an homage to her late husband or an act of belated revenge. Is she the cultured and hypersensitive victim of a crass and brutally ambitious husband? Or was Clarence the long-suffering caretaker of a neurotic and delusional wife?  The unforgettable characters in Savage’s two hit novels Firmin and The Cry of the Sloth garnered worldwide critical acclaim. In Edna, once again Sam Savage has created a character marked by contradiction—simultaneously appealing and exasperating, comical and tragic.

If you'd like the chance to win a copy of Glass, all you have to do is answer this question:

Which of Savage's previous novels was subtitled "Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife"?  (Easy-peasy hint: You might be able to find the answer here)

Email your answer to thequiveringpen@gmail.com.

Put FRIDAY FREEBIE in the e-mail subject line.  One entry per person, please.  Please e-mail me the answer, rather than posting it in the comments section.  Despite its name, the Friday Freebie runs all week long and remains open to entries until midnight on Nov. 24--at which time I'll draw the winning name.  I'll announce the lucky reader on Nov. 25.


*Which, if you're visiting this site, means YOU.

No comments:

Post a Comment