Contents of blog copyright Book Dragon's Lair 2009-2023
I've been gone a while. I started reading fanfiction to escape and I got sucked in an abyss.

I have no idea if someone else is hosting similar challenges. I just grabbed some of what I have hosted before.

Here's to a happy year of great reading
Jan2023: Not much has changed. Writing a fanfiction now O_o as well as reading but I bought 7 new books in December and hope to get those read soon. Crossing fingers about adding challenges (late!)

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Contest: the Lie & Playing House

In honor of Book Blogger Appreciation Week, and with thanks to Julie Harabedian of FSB Associates, I have TWO titles to give away.


the Lie

Author: Fredrica Wagman
Publisher: Zoland Books
Release Date: April 2009
Pages:
224
Trade paperback
Ages: 18+
Genre: literary fiction

from the publisher:
Coming of age in 1940s and 1950s America, Ramona Smollens takes her cues about female sexuality from Hollywood movie stars. None is more voluptuous than Rita Hayworth, the redhead who knows how to please a man and becomes a volcano of passion at her lover's touch, whose image inspired American flyers on their missions in World War II and even graced the first atomic bomb tested at the Bikini atoll. Ramona marries young and escapes her mother's house shortly after the death of her father. She takes with her a dark family secret, the sort of secret one simply did not talk about and that would stalk her as she matured into her role as wife and mother, remained a devoted daughter to her aging mother, and secretly harbored an obsession with the iconic Hayworth.

The fictional story Wagman tells of one woman's struggle with the conventions of her day is a bold literary achievement. Underpinning it all is the sad, unspoken truth of the real-life, flesh-and-blood Hayworth, the woman whose father sexually abused her. "Men go to bed with Gilda," She used to say, "but wake up with me." During Hayworth's lifetime, the public had no understanding of the depth of mean, and pain, behind Hayworth's seemingly self-effacing words. To Ramona, and millions of women like her, Hayworth's on-screen persona seemed the ideal, but was in fact "the lie." With this novel, Wagman realizes Kafkas famous dictum that "a book must be the axe that breaks the frozen sea within us."



Playing House

Author: Fredrica Wagman
Publisher: Zoland Books
Release Date:
May 2008, 35th Anniversary edition
Pages: 176
Trade paperback
Ages: 18+
Genre: literary fiction
content warning: incest - bully of a brother and his sex-slave sister - I haven't read it yet so I can't tell you anymore than that.

from the publisher:
When Playing House appeared in 1973, Publishers Weekly hailed it, “A probing descent into madness that will fascinate the same audience that appreciated I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.” This nationally bestselling story of one woman’s struggle with the lasting effects of a childhood sexual relationship with her brother shocked American readers; it remains a literary work of enduring quality and value. In his foreword Philip Roth writes, “The traumatized child; the institutionalized wife; the haunting desire; the ghastly business of getting through the day – what is striking about Wagman’s treatment of these contemporary motifs is the voice of longing in which the heroine shamelessly confesses to the incestuous need that is at once her undoing and her only hope.”

Shipping together:
US

~Good Luck~
don't forget to check out BBAW Contest Information (index at top) for rules, extra entries and other info

17 comments:

Alyce said...

I would like to be entered.

I follow your blog.

I read most of my books because they catch my imagination in one way or another, and at the same time they teach me something. I like to feel like I'm learning as I am reading a good story.

akreese (at) hotmail (dot) com

A Bookshelf Monstrosity said...

I would love to be part of this giveaway!

I am also a follower.

I read the books I read because they have been reviewed positively by many Amazon.com reviewers and/or book bloggers who share a similar interest with me. These books are usually literary fiction, historical fiction, or nonfiction books like memoirs or biography.

Beth said...

Please enter me. Thanks for the chance.

lizzi0915 at aol dot com

Marie said...

I would love to be entered.

I am a follower.

I read the books I read because of various reasons -- I know the author, it's recommended by a friend, the cover catches my eye or a read a review on a blog or in a magazine, etc.

marielay@gmail.com

Sue said...

I'd love to be entered. Thanks for the giveaway.

s.mickelson at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

enter me :D

adoreabledoremouse(at)gmail(dot)com

mindy said...

sounds wonderful thanks minsthins at optonline dot net

Lucyinthesky said...

I'd love a chance to win these books. I'm interested in reading more of this author. She seems to pull no punches.

Thanks for the chance.

rubymoonstone at gmail dot com

Lucyinthesky said...

I'm a follower (Ally/rubymoon) on Blogger Dashboard


contact email: espressogurl at hotmail dot com

Lucyinthesky said...

I read because as an only child (and a lonely child) books were my best friends. I think I got my library card at 5 and that is 55 years ago. Oops, I'm dating myself here.

Thanks for the chance.

espressogurl at hotmail dot com

Stitchin in the Sip said...

Please enter me in giveaway.

Thanks!

ryspenc@yahoo.com

Tiffany819 said...

I read the books I read because they are highly talked about or they are inexpensive. Thank you!

Tiffanys819 at gmail dot com

Holly said...

holly.kay.lee(at)gmail.com

I read the books I read because I like the covers! I'm so bad!!

Great giveaway!

WD said...

please enter me in the contest!
thanks
dubayD@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

Please enter me in your giveaway.

I'm a new follower

I read because I enjoy people and characters, the different situations they deal with, the variety of places they go, the people they interact with... It gives me a break from this world, a fun or exciting or sad or entertaining change from my world. I do books instead of drugs, alcohi=ol or excess food!

Kelly said...

I would love to win The Lie! I'm fascinated with the 1940's and 1950's and the stories and ideas that come out of that time period, whether they were written then or now.

I read the books that I read for a number of reasons--I get a lot as gifts, I pick them up off the bargain rack or in a thrift store, I find something shiny in the library... I just love to read. I find that even if I pick up a not-so-good book, I have a really hard time leaving it unfinished!

krtrumpet [at] aol [dot] com

L said...

Enter me please!
I'm a new follower.

lovinfitch(at)aol(dot)com

Disclaimer

In accordance to the FTC guidelines, I must state that I make no monetary gains from my reviews or endorsements here on Book Dragon's Lair. All books I review are either borrowed, purchased by me, given as a gift, won in some kind of contest, or received in exchange for an honest review.