The City of Dreaming Books

by Moers, Walter
ISBN: 9781590201114
5 (3)
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Used - Trade Paperback - 9781590201114

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Overview

The search for the author's identity takes Yarnspinner to Bookholm--the so-called City of Dreaming Books. On entering its streets, our hero feels as if he has opened the door of a gigantic second-hand bookshop. His nostrils are assailed by clouds of book dust, the stimulating scent of ancient leather, and the tang of printer's ink. Soon, though, Yarnspinner falls into the clutches of the city's evil genius, Pfistomel Smyke, who treacherously maroons him in the labyrinthine catacombs underneath the city, where reading books can be genuinely dangerous. In The City of Dreaming Books, Walter Moers transports us to a magical world where reading is a remarkable adventure. Only those intrepid souls who are prepared to join Yarnspinner on his perilous journey should read this book. We wish the rest of you a long, safe, unutterably dull and boring life
  • Format: TradePaperback
  • Author: Moers, Walter
  • ISBN: 9781590201114
  • Condition: Used
  • Dimensions: 9.00 x 1.30
  • Number Of Pages: 464
  • Publication Year: 2008

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  • A fantastical adventure for every book lover

    Jacqueline P. - 7 months ago

    Set in the fantastical world of Zamonia, "The City of Dreaming Books" is a rare treasure. Optimus Yarnspinner journeys to Bookholm, a city almost entirely comprised of second-hand bookshops filled with literary treasures, to discover the author of an incredible unpublished story given to him by his godfather. Yarnspinner meets the duplicitous publisher Pfistomel Smyke, who strands him in the immense catacombs beneath Bookholm. Down there, Yarnspinner encounters a world of unusual creatures and uncovers long-buried secrets of Bookholm. "The City of Dreaming Books" is unlike any novel I have ever read. Walter Moers is a master of developing rich characters without bogging down the pace of the story, and the plot is refreshingly unpredictable.

    HPB Staff Review

  • A rambunctious comic fantasy about a city dangerously obsessed with books

    Aidan N. - 6 years 2 months ago

    Have you ever been reading a book and before even finishing the last page you've already decided you've discovered a new favorite? In fact, you're a little spiteful that you went this long without knowing this book even existed? Thats how I felt about City of Dreaming Books. At his godfather's deathbed, Optimus Yarnspinner (an aspiring writer/dinosaur) inherits a story so excellent he leaves home on a grand quest to find the mysterious author of this near-perfect text. Arriving in Bookholm, the titular city, he soon runs afoul of the wrong people and finds himself maliciously trapped in the catacombs deep beneath the city, a dangerous netherworld of robbers, monsters and, naturally, books. Literary puns abound but what holds the novel together is the author's sheer sense of inventiveness. The deeper Optimus ventures underground, the wilder and more fantastic the story becomes. The humor resembles that of Terry Pratchett or the Phantom Tollbooth, but Moers is his own writer and, in the end, his story is unique. It is rollicking, sometimes silly, but ultimately sincere ode to books, those who write them, and of course, those who read them

    HPB Staff Review

  • Dinosaurs! Catacombs! Magic!

    Caytie C. - 7 years 7 months ago

    It is the goal of every citizen in the remarkable world of Zamonian to become an author and voyage to the city of Bookholm, in order to make their name known in the publishing world. Optimus Yarnspinner is just starting out on his own. But when he gets to Bookholm, he is overwhelmed by all the sights of the big city. Before Optimus knows it, he is lost in the city's dangerous catacombs. He desperately attempts to find a way out, all while trying to write the next great Zamonian novel.

    HPB Staff Review