Once Again to Zelda: The Stories Behind Literature's Most Intriguing Dedications

by Marlene Wagman-Geller and Marlene Wagman-Gellar

Book Overview

A fascinating look at the stories behind the dedications of 50 literary classics. Mary Shelley dedicated Frankenstein to her father, her greatest champion. Charlotte Br?nte dedicated Jane Eyre to William Makepeace Thackeray for his enthusiastic review of the book's first edition. Dostoyevsky dedicated The Brothers Karamazov to his typist-turned-lover Anna Grigoyevna. And, as this collection's title indicates, F. Scott Fitzgerald dedicated his masterpiece...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399534628
• ISBN13: 9780399534621
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Perigee Books
• Length: 313 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Fascinated

I read the book as soon as I received it because I have always been curious about book dedications. Book lovers would appreciate the "inside story."

Amazing Book!

Turn to any page in Once Again to Zelda: The Stories Behind Literature's Most Intriguing Dedications by Marlene Wagman-Geller and there will be a story of romance, passion, drama or inspiration. With an international roster of authors, and a list of titles running from the contemporary to the canonical, Once Again to Zelda (the title is taken from the dedication of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby) is a delight. Inspiration for the book came by way of Grace Metalious' Peyton Place. When Wagman-Geller read the dedication, "To George, for all of the reasons he knows so well," she had to learn the story behind the story. One juicy detail led to another, and now Wagman-Geller is what she calls a "Dedication Detective." In Once Again to Zelda, she reveals how Ayn Rand's husband shares his Atlas Shrugged dedication with his wife's lover, and explains the moving tale behind John le Carré's decision to dedicate The Constant Gardener to "Yvette Pierpaoli who lived and died giving a damn." Each tale is a wonder of literary insight and a whole lot of fun.

The Real Story Behind Some Cryptic Dedications; Star Tribune

Some book dedications are straightforward. (Mark Twain dedicated "Tom Sawyer" to his wife, with affection.) Some are mysterious. ("Peyton Place" was dedicated "To George, for all the reasons he knows so well.") Some are, frankly, bizarre. (Ayn Rand dedicated "Atlas Shrugged" to her husband and her lover. And yes, those were two different men.) In this appealing book, Marlene Wagman-Geller tells the stories behind 50 literary dedications, from Mary Shelley to J.K. Rowling. Dedications are curious things -- often cryptically private, yet publicly proclaimed. They raise curiosity; we want to know the stories, gossipy though that may seem. Wagman-Geller found her interest piqued by Grace Metalious' "Peyton Place" dedication, and she set about finding out who George was and what it was he had done. George, as it turns out, was Metalious' husband, twice. Their relationship was stormy, and Grace was not interested in being a housewife. Once, when she started to clean the kitchen table, she reached for what she thought was a Brillo pad but was actually a dead mouse. While she wrote her book, George tended house, cooked, and fed and ferried the kids. (Judging by the mouse incident, nobody cleaned.) So, yes, I guess he knows what he did: just about everything. The other 49 dedication stories are just as intriguing -- some are romantic, some are sad. They're fun to read, and they're better than gossip; they're true.

I loved this little book

"Once Again to Zelda" is a fun and well-researched book that satisfies the voyeur in any of us. Author Marlene Wagman-Geller was intrigued by the sometimes cryptic dedications in books, and she tracked down the stories behind the sentiment. some of them are funny, and some of them are romantic, and with some of them you just thank the good lord in heaven that you aren't living their lives. It's a lot of fun to read.

Highly recommended

I picked this book up after hearing of it from a colleague within my department. I admit that after learning of its topic (summary backgrounds on the dedications of fifty of history's greatest literary pieces), I was jealous I did not think of it first. But after reading this book, I am almost glad I did not; Wagman-Geller's research and personal insight would have been difficult to surpass. She writes with an ease of style that will be accessible by the casual reader, on a topic that will be of interest to the serious student of literature, while revealing informational tidbits that trivia buffs will be greedy to gobble up. "Once Again to Zelda" will be enjoyed by an audience as broad as the dedications it surveys. Of particular interest to me were the pieces on Mary Shelley's dedication of "Frankenstein" to her father, and Oscar Wilde's dedication of "De Profundis" to Bosie. (I will likely use these as short background pieces for my nineteenth-century literature students next term.) I also enjoyed the Dostoyevsky chapter, while the story behind Dashiell Hammett's dedication of "The Thin Man" to Lillian Hellman will recall the romance of Cameron's "Titanic". What's contained in "Zelda" is not newly discovered information about the authors or their muses, but it is unique in that it brings the information out of obscurity, into one pleasurable read. As for the Millican review, pay very little mind-- yes, poor taste usually overcomes good writing, but it's never the fault of the author. Buy this book. In fact, buy one for yourself, maybe a few for your friends, and perhaps another couple for your family, and have something interesting to talk about this holiday season.