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Once Again to Zelda: The Stories Behind Literature's Most Intriguing Dedications | 
| Author: Marlene Wagman-geller
Publisher: Perigee Trade
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $11.53
You Save: $5.42 (32%)
Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 28658
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0399534628
Dewey Decimal Number: 809.04
EAN: 9780399534621
Publication Date: November 4, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
A fascinating look at the stories behind the dedications of 50 literary classics.
Mary Shelley dedicated Frankenstein to her father, her greatest champion. Charlotte Brönte dedicated Jane Eyre to William Makepeace Thackeray for his enthusiastic review of the books first edition. Dostoyevsky dedicated The Brothers Karamazov to his typist-turned-lover Anna Grigoyevna. And, as this collections title indicates, F. Scott Fitzgerald dedicated his masterpiece The Great Gatsby to his wife Zelda.
Often overlooked, a novels dedication can say much about an author and his or her relationship to the person for whom the book was consecrated. Once Again to Zelda explores the dedications in fifty iconic books that are an intrinsic part of both literary and pop culture, shedding light on the authors psyche, as well as the social and historic context in which the book was first published.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
Interesting even if you're not a lit/fiction fan. December 6, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this. I'm not a big lit fan, but that didn't matter. Truly interesting stories briefly synopsize the lives of Shelley (themes of death and incest), Lewis Carroll (child molester), Virginia Woolf, Nabokov, Joan Didion, etc., as they pertain to the books' dedications. I read of selected authors, only the ones that interested me, but if you're into early lit and modern fiction, there are plenty of choices here for you. The book is chronological by book publish date, hence, we start with Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and end with Michael Chabon's Yiddish Policemen's Union (2007). Other authors included are Mark Twain, Stephen King, Arthur Miller, Eugene O'Neill, Sylvia Plath, many more.
 WORST WRITING I'VE EVER READ! HATE IT, WANT MONEY BACK! December 8, 2008
4 out of 9 found this review helpful
Negative ten stars. The entries on the authors, which range from Stephen King to Herman Mellville, while interesting in theory, are so poorly written they are difficult to get through. They read like BAD essays a seventh grader would write, I wanted to get out my red pen and mark them up. A seventh grader would get a C- on this writing, it was so bad it made me angry! Filled with trite commentary, totally useless information and sentence structures that are laughable in their stupidity, I don't know how an editor would let this be published as is. Good for you, you transcribed book dedications, amazing. I thought that this would be at least well researched, but that was absolutely not the case. Most of the entries are only about 4 pages long, and let me tell you, Wikipedia has FAR more interesting info on these authors and their books than what is provided in this dribble. I bought this because I saw it in Real Simple magazine and it seemed very interesting, but the publishing house must have paid a hefty fee for that endorsement because I've never been more disappointed by a book purchase in my life. I was planning on giving this to my sister for Christmas but I am SO glad I previewed it because I would have been extremely embarrassed giving it to a lit major. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK, IT IS TERRIBLE. Awful. The worst. Did I mention that I hated it yet?
Great for literature nerds!! December 10, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I don't know what book the person below read. Yes the info on each novel is short - it's supposed to be! It's meant to provide quick blurbs on each author, not an entire master's thesis on each.
I got this book because I'm a huge lit fan, and I thought it was an intriguing way to look at some great classics.
We all know the classic story of Jane Eyre, but did you know that it's eerily similar to the life story of Bronte and the man she "Respectfully Inscribed" it to, writer William Thackeray? Or that it essentially ruined the careers of both authors after it set off a firestorm of rumors about the two? Or that Virginia Woolf dedicated her gender-bending novel Orlando to her greatest female friend Vita Sackville-West, with whom she had a fiery affair?
It's these kind of insights that show that the stories behind these dedications are just as intriguing and complex as the novels themselves. A great gift book for any literature lover!
 Highly recommended December 10, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I picked this book up after hearing of it from a colleague within my department. I admit that after learning of its topic (summary backgrounds on the dedications of fifty of history's greatest literary pieces), I was jealous I did not think of it first. But after reading this book, I am almost glad I did not; Wagman-Geller's research and personal insight would have been difficult to surpass. She writes with an ease of style that will be accessible by the casual reader, on a topic that will be of interest to the serious student of literature, while revealing informational tidbits that trivia buffs will be greedy to gobble up. "Once Again to Zelda" will be enjoyed by an audience as broad as the dedications it surveys.
Of particular interest to me were the pieces on Mary Shelley's dedication of "Frankenstein" to her father, and Oscar Wilde's dedication of "De Profundis" to Bosie. (I will likely use these as short background pieces for my nineteenth-century literature students next term.) I also enjoyed the Dostoyevsky chapter, while the story behind Dashiell Hammett's dedication of "The Thin Man" to Lillian Hellman will recall the romance of Cameron's "Titanic".
What's contained in "Zelda" is not newly discovered information about the authors or their muses, but it is unique in that it brings the information out of obscurity, into one pleasurable read.
As for the Millican review, pay very little mind-- yes, poor taste usually overcomes good writing, but it's never the fault of the author. Buy this book. In fact, buy one for yourself, maybe a few for your friends, and perhaps another couple for your family, and have something interesting to talk about this holiday season.
Literary Dim Sum December 12, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I read about this book in a recent Sunday edition of "The Chicago Tribune." It wasn't a book review, but rather a piece that had to do with book dedications and how they are representative of love and honor within our culture. I've always wondered what was behind the often cryptic and seemingly banal dedications inscribed in the novels by my favorite authors; In her new book, "Once Again to Zelda," Wagman-Geller de-mystifies the dedications of 50 great and popular books. Her method is compelling, as it is through her analysis of a simple line-or-two dedication, Wagman-Geller reveals the pathos that is perhaps, the inspiration behind each literary work. Within the pages of this sumptuous buffet the reader is entreated to brief, yet complex portrayals of the human condition and the effects of such on the creative process. Haunting accounts of alcoholism, drug addiction, abandonment, betrayal, child abuse, political persecution, terminal illness, and personal triumph, abound within the pages of this sensational and informative read. (It should be said there is plenty of romance here, too, but I prefer the tawdry, dysfunctional dirt every time.) Of particular note, is the tragic story behind Arthur Miller's dedication of "After The Fall," to Ingeborg Morath, and a real gut-wrencher is Julia Alvarez' dedication of "In the Time of the Butterflies" to Dede; Authors included in this assortment span the gamut of the literary canon: Shelley, Melville, Dostoevsky, Wilde, Rand, Harper Lee, Capote, Angelou, Browne, Didion, and more.
There is a little something for everyone to nosh-on in this book: Lit lovers, pop culture fans, history buffs, et al. Bon Appetit.
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