Our congratulations go out to Linda. She won a copy of Johnny One-Eye by Jerome Charyn. I'm going to email her now. She'll have 72 hours to respond with her mailing address. If I don't hear from her by then, I'll select a new winner.
Thanks to all who participated in this giveaway. Look for more giveaways coming soon!
Why not try to win a FREE copy for yourself? The author and Tribute Books are graciously offering one free copy to a reader of this blog that resides in the United States.
The cover art you see here is for the hardcover edition, which is what I reviewed. The black cover goes with the paperback version. I like both, but this lighter cover catches my eye more.
Here's a description of the book from Amazon:
Johnny One-Eye is bringing about the rediscovery of one of the most "singular and remarkable [careers] in American literature" (Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post Book World). In this picaresque tour de force that reanimates Revolutionary Manhattan through the story of double agent John Stocking, the bastard son of a whorehouse madam and possibly George Washington, Jerome Charyn has given us one of the most memorable historical novels in years. As Johnny seeks to unlock the mystery of his birth and grapples with his allegiances, he falls in love with Clara, a gorgeous, green-eyed octoroon, the most coveted harlot of Gertrude's house. The wild parade of characters he encounters includes Benedict Arnold, the Howe brothers, "Sir Billy" and "Black Dick," and a manipulative Alexander Hamilton.
Not since John Barth's The Sotweed Factor and Gore Vidal's Burr has a novel so dramatically re-created America's historical beginnings.
Here are some additional reviews from Charyn's website:
"A rollicking tale."
—New York Times Book Review *Editors' Choice
"A terrific read, an imaginative evocation of Manhattan in chaos written with great energy and seductive cadence."
—Bloomberg News
"Charyn's command of time and place is masterful: the reader can practically smell the gunpowder that suffuses the war-torn city. As a kaleidoscopic view of a tumultuous era, the book deserves to be spoken about in the same breath as E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime."
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Here's how you can enter for a chance to win a copy of Johnny One-Eye by Jerome Charyn:
1) You must be a follower or subscriber of The Book Connection to win.
2) For your first entry, leave a comment with a valid email address. You can't win if you don't provide an email address.
3) One additional entry if you friend me on Facebook. Leave a comment with your profile link to show you're friending me.
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5) Three additional entries if you blog about this contest. Leave a link to your post here.
6) Winner must be 18 years or older and reside in the United States.
Deadline for entries is 11:59 PM Eastern on Sunday, July 10, 2011. Winner will be selected out of all entrants who followed the rules governing this contest. The book will be shipped to the winner by the author or his representative. The Book Connection is not responsible for lost or damaged goods.
A novel of Revolutionary intrigue awaits you in Johnny One-Eye by Jerome Charyn.
In his eloquent style, Charyn turns his attention to the American Revolution in Manhattan. British officers feast like kings while the rest of the population scrounges for food. It is a city that has been abandoned to the generals and whores that rule it, and spies lurk everywhere.
Our narrator is John Stocking, a one-eyed double agent found trying to poison General Washington's soup. Caught between both armies, Johnny navigates the dangers of wartime Manhattan while attempting to elude those who would murder him without losing a wink of sleep.
Driven mad by his love for Clara, a stunning harlot in his mother's brothel, Johnny struggles with his allegiances, not always knowing who is friend or foe. He brings the reader along through the eight years of the Revolution in Manhattan, from 1776 until Washington's moving departure in the autumn of 1783.
You may never look at the American Revolution the same again.
Having fallen in love with Charyn's writing in The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson and Joe DiMaggio: The Long Vigil, when I heard another of his books was available for review, I jumped at the chance to read it. Though the least favorite of mine out of the three, Johnny One-Eye brought the American Revolution to life for me in a new way.
It is a moving, compelling story of intrigue. Spies, thieves, and generals seek the upper hand as young America fights for its independence. Plots are uncovered, murders are committed, and sexual encounters lead to shared secrets. Johnny One-Eye is both realistic and vulgar. Yet, what war isn't those things?
The author states in his note at the back that though he tried to write a story about Benedict Arnold, it was Washington who he grew to like more and more as he read. It surprised me, then, that he created this fictional family for Washington, which included a lover named Gertrude who was the madame of the Holy Ground, a brothel where Washington would play vingt-et-un, and Gertrude's illegitimate son, Johnny One-Eye.
Charyn blends fact and fiction in such a way that all of what is written is believable--something I admired in The Secret Lives of Emily Dickinson. What I feel the author does best in this novel is depict how the Revolution destroyed Manhattan and the impact the war had on its citizens. Though I didn't find many characters to love or enjoy in this book, I discovered I could better appreciate and understand the founding of our county, the sacrifices that were made, and the high costs that brought forth an infant nation. I will definitely seek out more of Charyn's work in the future.
Jerome Charyn (born May 13, 1937) is an award-winning American author. With nearly 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life. Michael Chabon calls him “one of the most important writers in American literature.”
New York Newsday hailed Charyn as “a contemporary American Balzac,” and the Los Angeles Times described him as “absolutely unique among American writers.” Since the 1964 release of Charyn’s first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published 30 novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year. Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and has been named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture.
Charyn was Distinguished Professor of Film Studies at the American University of Paris until he left teaching in 2009.
In addition to his writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top 10 percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn’s book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."
Charyn lives in Paris and New York City.
Title: Johnny One-Eye
Author: Jerome Charyn
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Hardcover
Price: $24.95
ISBN: 9780393064971
Pages: 448
Release: February 2008
I received a copy of this book from the author and Tribute Books in exchange for my honest opinion. I received no monetary compensation of any kind for this review.
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