Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Crazy Book Dedications

Nelson DeMille

The Barnes and Noble Book Blog published a list of 25 odd, clever, or humorous book dedications. Ever since Cathedral, Nelson DeMille has been one of my favorite authors. His dedication for Wild Fire is my favorite, although it’s attached to my least favorite DeMille book. I remember when Wild Fire was first published, I laughed when I read the dedication. Unfortunately, the rest of the book was a disappointment.



I have never tried to be clever with my dedications. Most of them simply state one or more family member's first names. I did get verbose with Leadville, dedicating the book in the following manner to my twin grandsons.  

For Leo and Eli
Hey boys, I finished Leadville in the hospital when you were born


The dedication for Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman is another favorite.
You know how it is. You pick up a book, flip to the dedication, and find that, once again, the author has dedicated a book to someone else and not to you.
Not this time.
Because we haven’t yet met/have only a glancing acquaintance/are just crazy about each other/haven’t seen each other in much too long/are in some way related/will never meet, but will, I trust, despite that, always think fondly of each other!
This one’s for you.
With you know what, and you probably know why.

Gaiman’s dedication reminded me that I used to subscribe to Forbes to see my name on the cover of their 500 Richest People in America issue. Of course it was only on the address label, but proximity to all those successful people filled me with hope for the next year. If you would like to help me fulfill my dream of obscene wealth, please buy one of my books. Thank you and I promise to dedicate my next book to you.