Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Free to a Good Home (Tolkien Book)

So, as I've said before, sometimes I end up with two copies of the same book. In this case, I think I'd pre-ordered a book when I first heard about it, then come across it for sale later on and picked it up, not remembering that I was already supposed to be getting one, at least eventually. Or maybe I bought it at Kalamazoo one year and then, forgetting that, bought it again the next.

Be that as it may, when straightening up my shelves and starting to make room for Tolkien-related purchases from over the last year or two on the shelves in my office (which are all Tolkien, D&D, or CoC), I found that I had two copies of a recent book about Tolkien's role in the creation of modern fantasy, a topic I've been deeply interested in since about 1984.

The book in question is J. R. R. TOLKIEN, ROBERT E. HOWARD, AND THE BIRTH OF MODERN FANTASY by Deke Parsons (McFarland, 2014). So far as I can tell from a quick glance it looks at the contribution made by LotR, Conan, and Superman to modern fantasy. I've long held that Tolkien and Howard contributed in roughly equal amounts to the creation of D&D.* Superman and superhero comic books are the odd-man-out here. Haven't had  chance to read it yet, though when I do I'll probably post again.

More to the point, I don't need two identical copies. It's not like I'm going to read it twice and need the extra copy for that second time around. I've sounded out several of my D&D friends and Tolkien friends, and nobody particularly wanted it. So I've decided to give it away here through the blog. If you want a copy of this book, drop me a line via comments (which now that I think of it will be a good test whether Comments is up and running again as it shd).  I'm currently on a research trip here at Marquette but can get it off in the mail after I get back home.

So, if you're interested, let me know.

--John R.
current reading: RETURN OF THE SHADOW and THE CASE WITH NINE SOLUTIONS by J. J. Connington.

*in fact one copy was with the books on the history of D&D and the other with the recent books of Tolkien, so that probably explains that.


UPDATE: THE BOOK HAS NOW BEEN CLAIMED, AND WILL SOON BE ON ITS WAY TO JAPAN. SORRY TO THE OTHERS WHO WOULD HAVE LIKED IT. BEST WISHES, JOHN R.



5 comments:

Blue Shoe said...

Oh man, I would love that for my library!

Thomas Hillman said...

I would be interested in this book, if no one else has asked for it already.

Carolyn Priest-Dorman said...

Yes please, I'd like that book.

grodog said...

Hi John---

I'll happily take the book off your hands, thanks! :D

Allan.

John D. Rateliff said...

As per the Update, the book has been claimed and will soon be on its way to its new owner. Sorry for the others who put their hats in the ring; I decided to go with first-come.
All the best in Tolkienian (and other) reading,
--John R.