GIVEAWAY: THE LABYRINTH OF DREAMING BOOKS

Today Overlook Press is thrilled to publish the highly anticipated English translation of Walter Moers's THE LABYRINTH OF DREAMING BOOKS. The follow-up to his "lively and inventive" (New York Times) THE CITY OF DREAMING BOOKS, this whimsical tale transports readers to the literary-loving land of Bookholm, now revitalized, two years after it was devastated by fire. Moers continues to captivate readers with his wild imagination and sensational characters in this superb translation from celebrated translator John Brownjohn.

If you’ve been following along the Labyrinth of Dreaming Books Blog Tour: Congratulations, you’ve reached the last stop on your journey!  If you’re just tuning in, welcome! Be sure to: take a tour of the mysterious city through the Lonely Lindworm Guide to Bookholm, learn all about the zany land of Zamonia and its inhabitants, reacquaint yourself or get a crash course in the first book of the series, read fan mail to the great writer Optimus Yarnspinner, find out why you should read the entire series, and finally, spend some quality time with Moer’s translater, John Brownjohn. 

To celebrate, we're giving away a prize package that includes both THE CITY OF DREAMING BOOKS and THE LABYRINTH OF DREAMING BOOKS (on sale today!). For a chance to win, please leave a comment below and subscribe to our blog for the latest news and happenings at the Overlook Press.  To subscribe, enter your email address in the form on the right side of this page, or enter it here. The winner will be chosen at random next Thursday, 11/15. Good Luck!

Praise for THE LABYRINTH OF DREAMING BOOKS

"A glorious, beautifully written (and translated) paean to reading, to imagination, to the tradition of storytelling. Featuring wonderfully imaginative places and creatures—Optimus isn’t the only anthropomorphic being here—it should capture readers’ hearts and minds from the opening sentences and leave much to ponder for years to come."-Booklist

"A beguiling, bookish entertainment that ends on a cliffhanger."-Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Walter Moers

 "Cheerfully insane…Remains lively and inventive right though the final heroic battle between good and evil.”—New York Times Book Review

“Equal parts J.K. Rowling, Douglas Adams, and Shel Silverstein.”—The Washington Post

“A yarn of drollery, deeper meaning, and sheer lunacy.”—Rolling Stone

“Moers’s greatest strength, as evidenced by the multitude of characters he presents, is his creativity. Less a text and more an imagination on paper.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

P.G. Wodehouse Returns with a Giveaway!

Here at Overlook, we're delighted to be adding another three volumes to our already voluminous Collector's Wodehouse series. If you're an anglophile or just a lover of good literature, these three books are sure to charm, thanks to P.G. Wodehouse's witty prose and hilariously complex plots. Wodehouse is the master of social hijinks and comedy and has the remarkable ability to bring his socialite characters and their twentieth-century England world alive. Both nostalgic and timeless, Wodehouse's many novels are certain to entertain readers for generations with his exceedingly clever and comically savvy satire.


Tales of St Austin's is a collection of sixteen school-themed early Wodehouse stories and essays. Boyish escapades like cricket, rugby, and revenge are familiar ingredients of these stories, but no one can relate them quite as well as Wodehouse, with his gentle humor and inimitable turns of phrase. St Austin's is a nostalgic look at English public-school life at the turn of the twentieth century, but readers will be pleasantly surprised at the stories' relevance to today's world.

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves is the ninth of eleven novels featuring the comical Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves, who always manages to extricate Bertie from the wacky situations he lands himself in. In Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, Bertie returns to Totleigh Towers—lair of former magistrate Sir Watkyn Bassett and his ghastly daughter Madeline—to assist his old friend 'Stinker' Pinker. His subsequent adventures involve a black statuette, a Brazilian explorer, an angry policeman, and all the horrors of a school treat. It takes Jeeves, posing as Chief Inspector Witherspoon of the Yard, to sort out the mess and retrieve his employer from the soup.

 Bachelors Anonymous is the story of a bachelors' support group, meant to keep members safe from roving, marriage-hungry females and out of tricky romantic entanglements. Much-married, much-divorced American movie mogul—and serial marriage proposer—Ivor Llewellyn depends on his Bachelors Anonymous friends to fend off actress Vera Dalrymple. But when Llewellyn's bodyguard begins to fall for a beautiful journalist, Bachelors Anonymous member, Ephraim Trout, attempts to intervene. Trout sets in motion a series of hilarious events which end in more than one marriage, including his own.

Whether you're a devoted Wodehousian or have only a cursory knowledge of the masterful English writer, Overlook Press would like to celebrate by giving you the chance to win these three beautiful books. Printed on Scottish cream-weave, acid-free paper, bound in a cloth cover, and protected by a beautifully illustrated dust jacket, these are truly collector's editions. Post a comment here or a retweet on Twitter and you'll automatically be entered in our giveaway.

Nigel Slater's REAL FAST FOOD and a Recipe

written by Theresa Collier, Publicity

Nigel Slater, prolific cookbook author, food writer, cook, and film muse, has been hailed in the U.K. as a “national treasure” and is indeed a proper Brit himself, yet I’m convinced that he wrote his book Real Fast Food while living in a tiny NYC apartment, complete with galley kitchen, shallow cupboards, and approximately two square feet of counter space.  Or perhaps that thought just proves his universal appeal and the accessibility of his food that has made him such a star. Packed with quick, healthy recipes arranged by ingredient and easily adaptable for 1 or 2 or 10, Real Fast Food speaks to this NYC dweller’s soul.  With over one million copies in print and endorsements from celebrity chefs like Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver, I think it’s safe to say Slater is as much a kitchen staple as the olive oil and chocolate he hoards in his pantry.

You can imagine my excitement, then, for Overlook’s paperback edition release of both Real Fast Food and Real Fast Desserts, two essential cooking tomes fit for the accomplished chef and novice alike, available next week, April 24.  Especially for the occasion, I have tested, tasted, and documented one recipe from each volume and am here to share the recipes and results with you, our loyal Winged Elephant readers.  I’ll start today with my entrée of choice and hope you will stay tuned for Friday’s dessert and book giveaway for two lucky readers!

 After perusing Slater’s invaluable kitchen tips and shopping suggestions, it was difficult to choose just one dish from the wide selection of chapters and recipes: Eggs, Fish, Pasta, Vegetables and Salads, Grains, Cheese, and more.  On first glance, I was drawn to the minted peas, a sophisticated alternative to the mushy peas I devoured alongside oily fish and soggy “chips” at a tourist trap during my inaugural London excursion.  And then to the Welsh Rarebit—a sort of elevated toasted cheese sandwich—which an old flame's mother once made for me on rainy Saturday mornings. I finally settled on a recipe that evoked family memories, something that called out to my Sicilian heritage: Chicken with Orange and Black Olives.   

I should preface this with the fact that I am a person who believes in making things from scratch; shunning store-bought pie shells and making my own mayonnaise on the rare occasion that I let it pass my lips (BLTs are one welcome exception).  As you might imagine, this kitchen ideology typically forces my cooking habits to weekend-only affairs. With this is mind, I was pleasantly surprised when I found the time to run to the market for chicken legs and fresh herbs, and still pull together a scratch-made, aromatic, and visually stunning dinner, all on a Monday night after work. Oh, did I mention it was delicious?  And that my dining partner saw to it that there were no leftovers for my Tuesday lunch? My weeknight meal routine has been revolutionized. Yes, Jamie Oliver, Nigel Slater is indeed a genius.

Chicken with Orange and Black Olives

Serves 2

The sweet, briny combination of oranges and olives is one that I typically reserve for

Summer salads, but served warm in a velvety sauce atop braised chicken that falls off the bone, it is superb dish for any season.

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons butter

2 whole chicken legs (leg and thigh)

1 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (I used fresh)

12 black olives, pitted

1 orange cut in half and then into thin slices

1 tablspoon freshly chopped parsley

salt

freshly ground black pepper

  

Directions from Nigel Slater:

Heat oil and half the butter in a shallow pan.  Brown the chicken pieces on both sides, then add the chicken stock.  Stir in the thyme, olives, and the orange slices.  Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.  Check that the chicken is cooked—when pierced with the point of a knife the juices should run clear—then remove the pieces to a warm serving plate.  Taste the sauce, add the parsley, and season with pepper and very carefully, if at all, with salt.  Turn up the heat and reduce the liquid by bubbling down to 2/3 cup, then whisk in the remaining butter.  The sauce will be shiny and slightly thickened when it is ready.  Plate the chicken pieces and pour over the sauce.  Serve with a starch accessory, such as wide noodles or steamed potatoes or, even better, with the quick bulgur wheat and lamb. *

*I whipped up his simple Bulgur Wheat with Mangoes and Mint (pictured above, also found in Real Fast Food). It was bright and fresh and plated well with my chosen entrée.