{"title":"Open Letter - 2017 Spring\/Summer Releases","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0282\/5792\/files\/2017-Spring_Summer-Collection_Image.png?v=1484761604\" alt=\"\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#b45f06\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#b45f06\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#b45f06\" style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003eCheck out each book's page to get the info on and to read excerpts from our new 2017 spring\/summer titles.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#b45f06\" style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#b45f06\" style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\n\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#b45f06\"\u003eOr you can \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0282\/5792\/files\/2017_Spring_Summer-web.pdf?3600511755335341383\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eclick here\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#b45f06\"\u003e to download, print, or just view a PDF of the full print version of the catalog.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#b45f06\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cspan color=\"#b45f06\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-invented-part","title":"The Invented Part","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003eMay 16, 2017\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003enovel | pb | 552 pgs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e6\" x 9\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e978-1-940953-56-4\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e“A kaleidoscopic, open-hearted, shamelessly polymathic storyteller, the kind who brings a blast of oxygen into the room.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e—Jonathan Lethem\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e\"\u003c\/span\u003eA wonderfully inventive, intricate and entertaining novel on what it means to be a writer, and a reader.\"—John Banville\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn aging writer, disillusioned with the state of literary culture, attempts to disappear in the most cosmically dramatic manner: traveling to the Hadron Collider, merging with the God particle, and transforming into an omnipresent deity—a meta-writer—capable of rewriting reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith biting humor and a propulsive, contagious style, amid the accelerated particles of his characteristic obsessions—the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the music of Pink Floyd and The Kinks, \u003cem\u003e2001: A Space Odyssey\u003c\/em\u003e, the links between great art and the lives of the artists who create it—Fresán takes us on a whirlwind tour of writers and muses, madness and genius, friendships, broken families, and alternate realities, exploring themes of childhood, loss, memory, aging, and death.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDrawing inspiration from the scope of modern classics and the structural pyrotechnics of the postmodern masters, the Argentine once referred to as “a pop Borges” delivers a powerful defense of great literature, a celebration of reading and writing, of the invented parts—the stories we tell ourselves to give shape to our world. \u003cem\u003e(\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.openletterbooks.org\/pages\/the-invented-part-excerpt\" title=\"The Invented Part - Excerpt\"\u003eRead an Excerpt\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTranslated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003eAbout the Author:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Rodrigo Fresán is the author of nine novels, including \u003cem\u003eKensington Gardens\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMantra\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Bottom of the Sky\u003c\/em\u003e. His works incorporate many elements from science-fiction (Philip K. Dick in particular) alongside pop culture and literary references.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Translator: \u003c\/strong\u003eWill Vanderhyden received an MA in Literary Translation Studies from the University of Rochester. He has translated fiction by Carlos Labbé, Edgardo Cozarinsky, Alfredo Bryce Echenique, Juan Marsé, Rafael Sánchez Ferlosio, Rodrigo Fresán, and Elvio Gandolfo. He received an NEA Fellowship to work on \u003cem\u003eThe Invented Part\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e“Rodrigo Fresán is a marvelous writer, a direct descendent of Adolfo Bioy Casares and Jorge Luis Borges, but with his own voice and of his own time.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e—John Banville\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Rodrigo Fresán","offers":[{"title":"pb","offer_id":29468371657,"sku":"","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"ebook (epub)","offer_id":12950206808108,"sku":"","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0282\/5792\/products\/9781940953564.jpg?v=1484690287"},{"product_id":"island-of-point-nemo","title":"Island of Point Nemo","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003eAugust 15, 2017\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003enovel | pb | 450 pgs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e5.5\" x 8.5\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e978-1-940953-62-5\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e“Those of you who stay with Blas de Roblès’s ultimately quite satisfying novel will find yourselves with a new European literary star to steer by.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e—Alan Cheuse, NPR\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA stolen diamond and three right feet, wearing shoes of a non-existent brand, that wash ashore in Scotland set into motion the first plot of \u003cem\u003eIsland of Point Nemo\u003c\/em\u003e, a rollicking Jules Verne-like adventure narrative that crosses continents and oceans, involves multilingual codes, a world-famous villain, and three eccentrically loopy detectives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRunning parallel is the story of B@bil Books, an e-reader factory in France filled with its own set of colorful characters, including the impotent Dieumercie and his randy wife, who will stop at nothing—including a suspect ritual involving bees—to fix his “problem,” and their abusive boss Wang-li Wong, obsessed with carrier pigeons and spying on his employees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith the humor of a Jasper Fforde novel, and the structure of a Haruki Murakami one, \u003cem\u003eIsland of Point Nemo\u003c\/em\u003e is a literary puzzle and grand testament to the power of storytelling—even in our digital age. \u003cem\u003e(\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.openletterbooks.org\/pages\/island-of-point-nemo-excerpt\" title=\"Island of Point Nemo - Excerpt\"\u003eRead an Excerpt\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTranslated from the French by Hannah Chute\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003eAbout the Author:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Born in Algeria, Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès is a truly international writer, having spent significant time in Brazil, France, Taiwan, and Libya. His novel \u003cem\u003eWhere Tigers Are at Home\u003c\/em\u003e won the Fnac, Giono, and Médicis Prizes. \u003cem\u003eIsland of Point Nemo\u003c\/em\u003e is his ninth novel.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eTranslator: \u003c\/strong\u003eHannah Chute has an MA in Literary Translation from the University of Rochester. In 2015, she received the Banff Centre Scholarship to work on \u003cem\u003eIsland of Point Nemo\u003c\/em\u003e, her first full-length translation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e“Psychodrama meets history meets mystery—vintage Umberto Eco territory, as practiced by French philosophy professor turned novelist Blas de Roblès.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e—\u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Jean-Marie Blas de Roblès","offers":[{"title":"pb","offer_id":29498246729,"sku":"","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"epub (ebook)","offer_id":13561540050988,"sku":"","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0282\/5792\/products\/9781940953625.jpg?v=1484756801"},{"product_id":"tomas-jonsson-bestseller","title":"Tómas Jónsson, Bestseller","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003eJuly 11, 2017\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003enovel | pb | 500 pgs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e5.5\" x 8.5\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e978-1-940953-60-1\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e“Guðbergur Bergsson achieved success with his novel \u003cem\u003eTómas Jónsson, Bestseller\u003c\/em\u003e, which shocked Icelandic readers in innumerable ways.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e—Dagný Kristjánsdóttir\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA retired, senile bank clerk confined to his basement apartment, Tómas Jónsson decides that, since memoirs are all the rage, he’s going to write his own—a sure bestseller—that will also right the wrongs of contemporary Icelandic society. Egoistic, cranky, and digressive, Tómas blasts away while relating pick-up techniques, meditations on chamber pot use, ways to assign monetary value to noise pollution, and much more. His rants parody and subvert the idea of the memoir—something that’s as relevant today in our memoir-obsessed society as it was when the novel was first published.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConsidered by many to be the “Icelandic \u003cem\u003eUlysses\u003c\/em\u003e” for its wordplay, neologisms, structural upheaval, and reinvention of what’s possible in Icelandic writing, \u003cem\u003eTómas Jónsson, Bestseller\u003c\/em\u003e was a bestseller, heralding a new age of Icelandic literature. \u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e(\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.openletterbooks.org\/pages\/tomas-jonsson-bestseller-excerpt\"\u003eRead an Excerpt\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003eTranslated from the Icelandic by Lytton Smith\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003eAbout the Author:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Guðbergur Bergsson is the author of twenty-one books, from novels to children’s literature, and a translator from Spanish into Icelandic. He has received the Icelandic Literary Prize and the Nordic Prize\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eTranslator: \u003c\/strong\u003eLytton Smith is the author of \u003cem\u003eThe All-Purpose Magical Tent\u003c\/em\u003e, and has translated works from Bragi Ólafsson, Jón Gnarr, and Kristín Ómarsdóttir, among others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Bergsson is known in his homeland for his translations of Gabriel García Márquez, and the debt to García Márquez is clear in this sparsely sensual, idyllic fable of country matters.”\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Guðbergur Bergsson","offers":[{"title":"pb","offer_id":29499004233,"sku":"","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"ebook (epub)","offer_id":13561528647724,"sku":"","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0282\/5792\/products\/9781940953601.jpg?v=1484758083"},{"product_id":"salki","title":"Salki","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003eJune 13, 2017\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003enovel | pb | 210 pgs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e5.5\" x 8.5\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e978-1-940953-58-8\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e“It all blends here unexpectedly: that past and memory with the present and space. . . . At times, your skin will crawl with pleasure from reading.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e—Andrzej Stasiuk\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLying in bed in Gotland after a writer’s conference, thinking about his compulsive desire to travel—and the uncomfortable tensions this desire creates—the narrator of \u003cem\u003eSalki\u003c\/em\u003e starts recounting tragic stories of his family’s past, detailing their lives, struggles, and fears in twentieth-century Eastern Europe. In these pieces, he investigates various “salkis”—attic rooms where memories and memorabilia are stored—real and metaphorical, investigating old documents to better understand the violence of recent times. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWinner of the prestigious Gdynia Literary Award for Essay, \u003cem\u003eSalki\u003c\/em\u003e is in the tradition of the works of W. G. Sebald and Ryszard Kapuściński, utilizing techniques of Polish reportage in creating a landscape of memory that is moving and historically powerful.  \u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e(\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.openletterbooks.org\/pages\/salki-excerpt\" title=\"Salk - Excerpt\"\u003eRead an Excerpt\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003eTranslated from the Polish by Jan Pytalski\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #444444;\"\u003eAbout the Author:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Wojciech Nowicki is a Polish essayist, journalist, critic, photographer, and even writes a culinary column. He is also the co-founder of the Imago Mundi Foundation devoted to promoting photography. \u003cem\u003eSalki\u003c\/em\u003e is his first book to be translated into English\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Translator: \u003c\/strong\u003eJan Pytalski is a graduate of the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw, and has an MA in Literary Translation Studies from the University of Rochester.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #b45f06;\"\u003e•\u003c\/span\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“A masterful tribute to Georges Perec. . . . There is no future or past, but rather chains of ideas and associations that complement each other. In that sense, Nowicki’s book reminds one of The Rings of Saturn by Sebald.”\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e—\u003cem\u003ePolityka\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“\u003c\/span\u003eUnfettered by the structures of plot or reader expectation, but beholden to one organizing principle\u003cspan\u003e—\u003c\/span\u003emovement\u003cspan\u003e—\u003c\/span\u003eSalki, both as written and as read, is a journey.\u003cspan\u003e”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e—The Polish Review \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Wojciech Nowicki","offers":[{"title":"pb","offer_id":29499605385,"sku":"","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"ebook (epub)","offer_id":13561520422956,"sku":"","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0282\/5792\/products\/9781940953588.jpg?v=1484759196"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0282\/5792\/collections\/2017-Spring_Summer-Collection_Image.png?v=1484761785","url":"https:\/\/www.openletterbooks.org\/collections\/open-letter-2017-spring-summer-releases\/france.oembed","provider":"Open Letter","version":"1.0","type":"link"}