Bargain @ $1.99 in the US only from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's Mariner Books imprint (couponable/VIP-discount eligible @ Kobo; price should otherwise be the same at other retailers):
A Perfect Vacuum by the late Polish science fiction author Stanisław Lem (
Wikipedia), a collection of perfectly cromulent literature commentary essays on various topics, reviewing books which just happen not to exist. This was on my wishlist.
ETA: It turns out there's an entire
Wikipedia entry just for his works in this area.
Ingenious essays from “a Jorge Luis Borges for the Space Age, who plays in earnest with every concept . . . from free will to probability theory” (The New York Times Book Review).
In A Perfect Vacuum, Stanislaw Lem steps outside of his fictional comfort zone to try his hand at reviewing the literature of others. The only catch is this: None of these books have actually been published—or even written—he just made them up.
These sixteen satirical and brilliantly insidious commentaries on non-existent books cover the gamut of unconventional writing techniques: from a Joycean review that doggedly dissects every word to a critique that is written entirely in negatives to an analysis presented in fragments for the reader to assemble as he or she likes. Along the way, Lem presents his trademark examinations on topics ranging from modern art to computer technology to philosophy.
At once a disarming delight and a clever mental exercise, A Perfect Vacuum lends credence to the assertion that Lem is “Harpo Marx and Franz Kafka and Isaac Asimov rolled up into one and down the white rabbit’s hole” (Detroit News).
Also, @ $2.99 in both Canada & the US from HMH,
Airman's Odyssey: Wind, Sand and Stars; Night Flight; and Flight to Arras by the late French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (
Wikipedia), a 3-book omnibus of his aviation memoirs + a novel based upon his experiences, some of which also influenced his beloved children's classic
Le Petit Prince. This has been cheaper in the US previously but is still a pretty good deal at this price, and is one of the rare HMH books to be offered at a discount in Canada and was also technically on my wishlist and worth getting for 3rd book I hadn't already bought during pricedrops for the individuals.
Three award-winning works of adventure, survival, and the early days of aviation from the celebrated author of The Little Prince, collected in one volume.
Ranging from the northern skies of France to the South American Andes, this volume includes two memoirs and a novel, each informed by the lauded pilot and poet’s experiences as a pioneering aviator during World War II.
HMH also have a few extra US-only $1.99 bargains from the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith (
Wikipedia):
The Essential Galbraith &
The Good Society: The Human Agenda and a collection of essays by somewhat controversial prize-winning travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux (
Wikipedia), who has had the distinction of having had a number of his works banned in various countries:
Sunrise with Seamonsters