The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
by Gabrielle Zevin
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- Signed
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Near Fine
- ISBN 10
- 1616203218
- ISBN 13
- 9781616203214
- Seller
-
Carrollton, Texas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 2014. SIGNED. NF/NF. Stated First Edition. First printing with number line ending in 1. Signed on the title page. The book has a slight lean but tight with good tips, and clean boards. The textblock is clean with no writing, bookplate, or markings and not BCE, ex-library, or remaindered. The dust jacket is unclipped ($24.95) with light edgewear to corners. Protected in a new Brodart Mylar cover. 258 pages. 6 x 8½" tall.
A.J. Fikry's wife has died, his bookstore is in trouble, and now his prized rare edition of Poe poems has been stolen. And then a mysterious package appears at the bookstore. It's a small package, but large in weight. Its unexpected arrival gives A. J. Fikry the opportunity to make his life over and the ability to see everything anew.
Reviews
The Collected Works of A.J.Fikry (aka The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry) is the fifth stand-alone novel by American author, Gabrielle Zevin. Alice Island, a New England summer destination requiring bus and ferry travel, boasts a main street book store. Island Books is owned by recent widower, A.J.Fikry, an opinionated, often cranky man in his late thirties with a (self-described) porcupine heart. Since the unfortunate accidental death of his beloved wife, his plan has been to drink himself to death and drive his business to ruin. This plan is derailed by three occurrences: thirty-six-year-old sales representative for Knightley Press, Amelia Loman makes her first visit to Island Books to present the publisher’s Winter List (and is treated rather shabbily by A.J.); A.J.’s escape valve, a rare and valuable edition of Tamerlane, a collection of poems by Edgar Allan Poe, is stolen; and a bright two-year-old girl named Maya is left in his bookstore. Against all odds, A.J. finds himself (with frequent help from Google and occasional input from the Island’s residents) bringing up a young girl. Zevin has given the reader characters who are appealing despite their flaws, or perhaps because of them. The story has an element of mystery and the plot has a few unexpected twists. Each chapter is prefaced with a paragraph of A.J.’s comments for Maya about a certain literary work: advice for writing and advice for life. It contains many words of wisdom, making it, as others have said, a very quotable book: “Sometimes books don’t find us until the right time” and “We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works” will resonate with many readers. This book is filled with lightness and dark, with laugh-out-loud moments and lines that will have the most cynical reader choking up. It is a book for anyone who loves to read or loves book stores, and lovers of fine literature will be especially captivated. This delightful read is one of those books that is almost impossible to put down and most readers will be sorry to reach the end. A keeper.
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Details
- Seller
- Armadillo Alley Books (US)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 4596
- Title
- The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
- Author
- Gabrielle Zevin
- Format/Binding
- Cloth
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- First Edition / First Printing
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 1616203218
- ISBN 13
- 9781616203214
- Publisher
- Algonquin Books
- Place of Publication
- Chapel Hill, NC
- Date Published
- 2014
- Pages
- 258
- Size
- 6 x 8.5
- Keywords
- Signed Books, Bookstore, Bookseller, books on books
- Bookseller catalogs
- First Editions; Signed Books;
Terms of Sale
Armadillo Alley Books
About the Seller
Armadillo Alley Books
About Armadillo Alley Books
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Brodart
- Generally used to refer to a clear plastic cover that is sometimes added to the dustjacket or outside covering of a book. The...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.
- Bookplate
- Highly sought after by some collectors, a book plate is an inscribed or decorative device that identifies the owner, or former...
- Number Line
- A series of numbers appearing on the copyright page of a book, where the lowest number generally indicates the printing of that...
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...