{"product_id":"tolkiens-gown","title":"Tolkien's Gown","description":"\u003cp\u003eRick Gekoski has been described as the Bill Bryson of the book world. Rare book dealer  academic  publisher  critic  bibliographer  and broadcaster  his BBC Radio series Rare Books  Rare People was acclaimed by The Daily Telegraph as one of the gems of Radio 4. In Tolkiens Gown  a book based loosely on that hugely successful radio series  he discusses twenty great works of modern literature as both texts and objects. At once erudite and funny  the essays give a publishing biography of each book  together with comments about the authors involvement with first editions of the works. What is the value of a book? he asks. The answers are both critical and financial  involving appraisals of the literary qualities of the works  together with an account of their (sometimes surprising) value in the rare book trade. His stories are fascinating and diverse  and involve memorable encounters with  among others  Graham Greene  William Golding  J.D. Salinger  Ted Hughes  Salman Rushdie  Julian Barnes and Harold Pinter. Relations between book dealers and authors can be uneasy: J.D. author  Ted Hughes thinks he has been overcharged. While Graham Greene is simply delighted to have done business. For anyone who loves books  Tolkiens Gown offers a wealth of amusement and instruction  and enough literary anecdotes to last a lifetime.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44986848739381,"sku":"ByrdShop_1845292391","price":28.62,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781845292393.jpg?v=1770919160","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/tolkiens-gown","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}