Thursday, September 23, 2010

BOOKS I LOVE: Win a copy of The Princess Bride by William Goldman

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure  "Wait a minute... wait a minute... is this a kissing book?"

I am going to give away a copy of The Princess Bride by William Goldman.  I love this book.  Not enough to marry it and be committed to it above all other books, but enough to have consistent, loving and respectful flings together.

You also will love it, unless you are an uncultured Philistine, in which case you will probably only mildly adore it.

Over the next few months I'm going to occasionally give away a couple of my favorite books.  As an author, it's hard not to be influenced by the books you love when you write your own books, and I thought it would be fun to share a couple of the similarities between Imaginary Jesus and the books I want to gather into a big pile and cuddle with.

Here are a couple ways that The Princess Bride and Imaginary Jesus are similar:

1) They're both light-hearted comedies.  Granted, one is about true love, giants and fencing, and the other is about punching a fake Jesus out and chasing it through time and space, but the fact is they're both meant to be goofy, enjoyable books.

2) The author appears as himself.  In The Princess Bride, William Goldman discovers that one of his favorite books from his childhood was actually heavily edited by his father to make it palatable for children, and he sets out to make his own "good parts version" of the book.  In Imaginary Jesus, Matt Mikalatos is both narrator and main character as he sets out on a quest to find an answer to why God has allowed suffering in his family.

3) Both books deal with serious topics in the midst of the craziness.  Underneath all the wackiness, Princess Bride deals with love... True Love in romantic situations as well as the love between parents and their children.  Beyond the talking animals, time travel and legion of Jesuses, Imaginary Jesus looks at the way we make decisions about religion, spirituality and our desire to be connected to God.

4) Both books will make you laugh so hard that you break all the furniture in your house.  Or, if you are a more serious sort, they will make you guffaw in public places.  This is not an unconditional guarantee, and the authors are not responsible for any damage to your furniture or social shame brought on by your public displays of mirth.

HOW DO I ENTER, you ask?

Easy.

1) Link to this post from your blog, twitter or facebook.

2) Leave a comment on this post telling me you've linked it up.

3) I will send a note to the winner on September 29th.  Don't worry, I'll do it using the power of the random number generator.

4) Yes, multiple links will give you multiple entries.  Enter as much as you like.

5) Your chances to win increase with every line from The Princess Bride you quote in the comments section of this post.  Because the random number generator loves that movie.

 And now for the small print: If anything about this contest is illegal or opens me up to lawsuits where you live, please do not tell your authorities or lawyers about it.  Because that will void this contest in your area.  And that would be sad.

UPDATE (9/28): We have a winner!  Congrats to Rahma Krambo!

17 comments:

  1. My favorite movie ever. The book sounds great.

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  2. Love the movie! I'd love to read the book. I'm gonna go tweet a link now.

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  3. Hello! My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to...

    witness that I have posted a link of this to facebook.

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  4. Hi Matt,
    just read your interview with your Acquisitions Editor, and after that all the Amazon review for Imaginary Jesus. Looks really good! That sounds like a kind of banal comment, but I mean it in capital letters. Seriously. I love hearing about authors who challenge preconceived notions about how Jesus and faith are written about, especially when they do it so successfully. Keep up the good work!

    Oh, and why not. I'll tweet this as well.

    And oh why the heck not...
    "Humperdink...humperdink...HUMPERDINK!"

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  5. "Of course Iocane powder comes from Australia, which, as everyone knows, is almost entirely populated by criminals!"

    (I'm sorry, I'm going to stop now. Can't help myself. Have seen the movie SO many times, and have so far been unable to get a hold of the book.)

    I, like Iocane powder, am from Australia.
    I am not a criminal.

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  6. Anonymous1:50 PM

    I am linking to this post from kathrynleighaz.wordpress.com but the linking won't happen until tomorrow (I've already posted today).

    "You killed my father! Prepare to DIE!!!!"

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  7. Anonymous2:00 PM

    I definitely repeated a quote that someone else is, which is NOT cool. It makes me seem unoriginal and lazy... so I offer a different quote:

    "Rodents of unusual size? I don't think they exist."

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  8. I adore this book. So, so much. Linked to it on Facebook and Blogspot. Would have also linked to it on Twitter, but it seems to be glitching at the moment.

    "And wuv... twue wuv... wiww fowwow you foweva... and eva."

    "Inconceivable!"
    "You keep saying that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

    "Have fun storming the castle!"

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  9. Anonymous8:11 PM

    I already have both book and move of TPB, but I had to say that my cousin got married maybe a year ago (or two, who knows? Time goes so fast these days), and a friend of the couple got ordained just to perform their wedding...and opened with the "Wuv, twue wuv" speech. EVERYONE got a huge laugh out of that one!

    Excellent choice. I've yet to read the book, but I've seen the movie countless times and recently acquired an anniversary edition movie that included the book in hardback, so it's in my "to be read" stack.

    Gil

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  10. "There is a shortage of perfect breasts in this world. It would be a pity to damage yours."

    Oh - I and I posted the link! =)

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  11. Marwage. Marwage is what bwings us together today.

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  12. Alright - I posted on Facebook and Blogger. That's two. :)

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  13. I never read this, loved the film though. I won't sat the catchphrase...no...I will not.

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  14. pongboy8:21 AM

    Okay then, I will...

    "Scaling the Cliffs of Insanity, Battling Rodents of Unusual Size, Facing torture in the Pit of Despair. True love has never been a snap."

    YES! One of the best movie taglines ever! :D

    I still really really miss Andre the Giant! :(
    I'm madly in love with Robin Wright(Pen)! :)

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  15. "No more rhymes now, I mean it!"
    "Anybody want a peanut?"

    Facebooked it :)

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  16. Carlos7:40 AM

    Life is pain, Princess. Anybody who says differently is trying to sell something.

    True and deep...

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