On the first day of Christmas, Overlook Press gave to me…

Everyone knows that books make the best gifts, right? If you’re reading this blog you probably agree with us. Last year, Overlook got into the true spirit of the holiday season and spent twelve days in December giving away some of our favorite books that we’ve published over the past forty years. We had such a strong response that we’ve decided to continue the tradition this year, with another twelve days of literary gifting!

Beginning today, and continuing every weekday through Friday, December 23^rd, come check out the Winged Elephant, where you’ll have a chance to win free copies of classics from our backlist as well as early sneak peeks for 2012. We’ll be giving away signed copies, author collections, limited edition volumes, and genre themed book sets by our favorite Overlook authors. Neither the contest nor the books are Christmas exclusives—we just can’t resist using the song!

Today we are spreading the holiday cheer by giving away a complete set of Charles Portis paperbacks, including True Grit, Norwood, Masters of Atlantis, Gringos, and The Dog of the South. Many readers may know Portis for True Grit, the 1968 novel that was readapted for film last year by Joel and Ethan Coen, but his four other novels are all classics in their own right— cool, sympathetic, funny, and undeniably Portis. Conan O’Brien called Masters of Atlantis “one of the few laugh-out-loud novels I’ve read,” and Entertainment Weekly described Norwood as a “glimpse of how a 20^th-century Mark Twain might write.” Perfect for both the diehard Portis lover and the uninitiated novice, these books will provide hours of comic entertainment to one lucky recipient.

You can enter to win books in three different ways:

1. Comment on this post

2. Tweet at us using the hashtag #OverlookChristmas

3. Leave a comment on our Facebook page

You can enter once in each area until 8 am tomorrow morning, and we will be announcing a winner in tomorrow’s post.

Be sure to come back tomorrow for even more holiday gifting and to check to see if you’ve won. Happy holidays to everyone from the Overlook Press!