Todays book for recommended reading isn’t a business book but it is one that writers (aren’t we all writers these days) might be interested in.
Once Again to Zelda
The Stories Behind Literature’s Most Intriguing Dedications
by Marlene Wagman-Geller
It is a book, as the cover says, about the stories behind different authors’ book dedications. Do you read the dedications in the front of books before diving in? I do, I love to. I’m always wondering why they wrote what they did and I really enjoy the clever ones. I think my favourite is the dedication in the sixth Harry Potter book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling (though it’s not in this book, The Philosopher’s Stone is).
This book goes into detail about the real character’s behind the book. The wives, the husbands, the lovers, the friends of the authors and how that dedication came about. It includes Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Moby Dick, The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mocking Bird, The Joy Luck Club and The Da Vinci Code, to name a few. There are 50 Dedications discussed in all and each are a fascinating insight into the authors lives.
I think what I enjoyed most about it was reading about the dedications of the books I have not yet read (most of them, I’m not good at reading the classics). Some made me want to read the actual books more and some just reminded me how people can begin to believe all the hype that surrounds them.
I would call this an easy read, nothing too serious and at just over 300 pages a good bedtime read.
If you would like to purchase it you can online from here
Have you read this book? Would you be interested in giving it a go? Tell me in the comments, I’d love to know!
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