Fiction

Watch a Video Introduction to Mary Shelley's ‘Frankenstein’

in , ,
Featured
Frankenstein

The Restless Classics 200th Anniversary edition of Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Shelley, comes with a new introduction by renowned author and critic Francine Prose and a free online video lecture series taught by Penn professor of English Wendy Steiner. The towering masterpiece of gothic fiction that spawned the horror and science-fiction genres is the most recent installment of Restless Classics: interactive encounters with great books and inspired teachers. Each Restless Classic is beautifully designed with original artwork, a new introduction for the trade audience, and an online video teaching series led by passionate experts.

In this first video in the series Professor Steiner discusses Mary Shelley’s background and the origins of Frankenstein.

Mary Shelley was the daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, an intellectual of great stature in the late 18th century who was deeply versed in the philosophy and political theory of her time, and who wrote one of the great classics of feminist thought, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Her daughter Mary was the last of several children she had by different men, and Wollstonecraft died ten days after giving birth, leaving Mary to grow up without a mother in the house of her father, William Godwin. Godwin was also a preeminent intellectual of the day, and through his living room came London’s leading lights of intellectual and artistic life. While she didn’t go to school, Mary was exposed to some of the newest and most exciting artistic and scientific ideas in circulation. It was in that living room that Mary met her future husband, the poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. In 1814, when she was 16 years old, Mary ran off with Percy to Switzerland. Two years later they returned and lived in a house in the mountains above Geneva, next-door to a villa where Shelley’s friend Lord Byron was staying. One stormy night, the group, including Byron’s physician John William Polidori and Mary’s step-sister Claire Claremont, decided to have a ghost-story writing contest. That night Mary had a dream about bringing a dead body to life with electricity, and out of that dream came Frankenstein.

The Restless Classics 200th Anniversary edition of FRANKENSTEIN: OR, THE MODERN PROMETHEUS (restlessbooks.com/bookstore/frankenstein), by Mary Shelley, comes with a new introduction by renowned author and critic Francine Prose and a free online video lecture series taught by Penn professor of English Wendy Steiner.

Your Local Booksellers Recommend Books for Father's Day

in , , ,

With Father's Day approaching next Sunday June 19th, you may still be searching for the perfect gift for Dad. Inspired by a tribute penned by Houston bookseller Keaton Patterson to his father, who introduced him to the mind-altering works of Alejandro Jodorowsky, we decided to ask others at some of our favorite independent bookstores which book they would get for their dads. The responses are wide-ranging, hilarious, and moving—and they just might inspire your own Father's Day picks.  

We've also got a special offer: If you buy one of these books directly from Restless, you can get 25% off at checkout when you enter the discount code "DADBOOK." Order by the evening of Wednesday the 15th for guaranteed delivery. 

"God is Round is perfect for Father's Day because it examines the culture, connection, and joy surrounding the sport that so many people love. Also: because soccer."

—Justus Joseph, The Elliott Bay Book Company (Seattle, WA)

"My dad’s sweet spots: the Syfy channel, Spanglish, and forty-page poop jokes. Yoss has him covered."

—Jonathan Woollen, Politics & Prose (Washington, DC)

Featured
Captivity

"If I were to pick a book from Restless Books' catalogue to give my dad for Father's Day, I would definitely give him Captivity, by György Spiró, because it basically contains everything he likes to read. As a retired historian, he appreciates well-researched historical fiction, especially those works that ground the reader in a historical worldview, rather than attempting to impose a modern viewpoint on the past. Our whole family reads lots of historical fiction with Jewish themes, and I think my dad would relate to the nearsighted nebbish narrator of Captivity, who just wants to spend his life doing research in the Library of Alexandria."

—Molly Odintz, BookPeople (Austin, TX)

"I was really lucky and grew up in a house filled with books. My dad would pull books off the shelves introducing me to Joseph Heller's Catch 22, Al Capp's comic The Shmoo and many others. This is why I would recommend Oleg Kashin's absurd,  science fiction infused look at life in Putin's Russia, Fardwor, Russia!, translated by the magnificent Will Evans. (Here's a picture of my cat Sonic.)"

—Caitlin Luce Baker, University Book Store (Seattle, WA)

"I would pick the Restless edition of Frankenstein. With the creepy gothic illustrations, it's perfect for a bad-ass dad who loves the classics!"

—Lauren Peugh, Changing Hands Bookstore (Tempe, AZ)

Featured
9781632060587.jpg

"You don't need to be a sports fan to appreciate the wonderful insight, humor and philosophy of Juan Villoro's writing. Along with Eduardo Galeano's Soccer in Sun & Shadow, God is Round is essential reading for anyone looking to better understand the world's most popular sport."

—Shawn Donley, Powell's Books (Portland, OR)

"I think when I give this to my Dad I'm just going to say, 'So Pops, when was the last time you read a really great Cuban Sci-Fi novel about a space traveling veterinarian who explores the digestive tracts of mountain-sized alien creatures? One other thing I should tell you: laxatives are involved.'"

—Emily Ballaine, Green Apple Books on the Park (San Francisco, CA)

Featured
WTBSB_cover_2400 (1).jpg
Jodorowsky Bundle
sale

"I'm giving my father Jodorowsky's Where the Bird Sings Best because there is no one like Jodorowsky - just like dad. And he'll get to relive his "magical realist" days of the early 70's...."

—Brian Cudzillo, Harbor Books (Sag Harbor, NY)

"My dad probably would have liked God Is Round the most because he liked soccer, loved Mexico, and would have appreciated the author's caustic wit."

—Conrad Silverberg, Boswell Book Company (Milwaukee, WI)

"If it’s good enough to earn the author a beating from some of Putin’s thugs, it’s good enough for Dad. Zany political satire with a touch of absurdist science fiction, Fardwor, Russia! is the perfect book if Dad gave you Asimov or Vonnegut when you were a teenager."

—Josh Cook, Porter Square Books (Cambridge, MA)

"Albina and the Dog-Men is the answer to the question: 'What do you get the dad who has everything?' Because I assure you, he doesn't have anything even remotely like this."

—Stephen Sparks, Green Apple Books on the Park (San Francisco, CA)

"My dad and I have always shared the language of sports and have traded books our whole lives, so I would love to introduce him to the football-mad sensibility of Juan Villoro. Or maybe I'll give it to my sons before we go see Messi and Di Maria play in Seattle next Tuesday!"

—Tom Nissley, Phinney Books (Seattle, WA)

"This Father’s Day, show your appreciation for all those dad jokes with Super Extra Grande by Yoss. This is Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy taken to a whole new level: raunchy, funny, and full of language play. It might also make him realize that being a veterinarian to enormously large alien creatures has got nothing on changing diapers."

—Anton Bogomazov, Politics & Prose (Washington, DC)

"Replete with amazingly detailed illustrations, Albina and the Dog-Men by Alejandro Jodorowsky is by turns obscene, profane, hilarious, incredibly violent, reverent, and profound. It’s a timeless myth engaged in the power of sexuality and what lurks in the darkest recesses of the mind. But most of all, it’s a tremendous amount of fun."

—Keaton Patterson, Brazos Bookstore (Houston, TX)