GET LIT (ALL WEEKEND LONG): Win a copy of Adam Ross' Mr. Peanut
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Welcome to Book Quarterly Trivia Week! From now till June 23, we'll be inundating you with opportunities to win free copies of books from our Summer BQ. For the first time in BQTW's history, we've got copies of every single book we've reviewed, previewed and shouted out (even in Icepack!). So keep an eye out at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m. every day for plenty of chances to win.
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| Knopf, 352 pp., $25.95, June 22 |
An Escher-inspired computer game designer by day and aspiring novelist with visions of uxoricide by night, David weaves several versions of his marriage (and his wife's untimely demise) together so seamlessly that it's impossible to figure out where one reality begins and another ends. Did he kill Alice, his obese, self-obsessed, manic-depressive wife? Or didn't he? We're not really sure, and that's OK. The deceptive simplicity that works so well with Escher's iconic images also serves Ross' story well. The beauty of David's narrative is that what's real and what's imagined is never entirely clear. It's this uncertainty, the way Ross loops beginnings into ends and back again, that is so effective. But the pressure of two ungainly side plots deforms the skillful, looping conceit of the novel. In these interlocking, overly clever and comparatively clumsy storylines involving the officers investigating David's role (or lack thereof) in Alice's death, Ross rips the boundary between reality and perception and loses sight of which ants are crawling where.To win a copy of Mr. Peanut, answer the following trivia question:
In what year was the Planters anthropomorphic-nut mascot created?
E-mail me at carolyn.huckabay@citypaper.net for a chance to win, and be sure to put "Mr. Peanut" in the subject line. Keep an eye on Critical Mass this weekend for more chances to win! [UPDATE, Mon., June 21, 10:18 a.m.]: Congratulations to CM reader Kristen, who correctly answered that Mr. Peanut made his debut in 1916.
