First Edition Friday: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
Well.. where do we start with this one!?
This one is extremely polarising - some say it is a avant garde tour-de-force which will challenge you, scare you and leave you questioning the world you live in. Others however think it a work which will have you uttering profanities under your breath and wishing you weren't against the idea of burning books.
The general premise is that a family move into a house they soon nightmarishly discover to be bigger on the inside. Now complicate that plot summary by x800000 and you might be getting close to what is going on.
Originally distributed in parts, the author shared printed copies to friends and family and local establishments throughout Los Angeles, mostly tattoo parlors and such, had copies floating around in the mid-to-late 90's. It wasn't until 2000 that it was published in its entirety.
The book plays with font, narrative structure and footnotes(...upon footnotes...upon footnotes), which has been said to create an agoraphobic and claustrobic experience for the reader.
It is disturbing, innovative, wierd and intimidating. It is a book your conquer before it conquers you.
Somehow, we have ended up with several different First Edition copies of this book.
We have:
- The very scarce UK hardcover (one of only 50 copies) with the golden 'Z' embossed on the front. It is SIGNED 'Z' and dated by the author and in MINT condition! $309.83NZD (pictured)
- Another scarce UK hardcover (one of 200). This has no letter embossed to the front. $125.00NZD
- First Edition, First Impression Trade Paperback. This is SIGNED and dated from the authors trip to NZ. $100.00NZD
- First UK Edition Trade Paperback, also SIGNED and dated from his trip to NZ. $90.00NZD
This book has a huge cult following and once people know they are here, they generally rush out the door!
