Edward Koren: Do You Want To Talk About It? Personalized Review Copy

In his preface to Edward Koren's first cartoon collection, Do You Want To Talk About It? (1976), Calvin Trillin wrote, "I knew Ed Koren before his pen broke. I only wish I could remember precisely how he drew then." It is surprising to find both cartoonist and preface writer each providing an original drawing to a personally-dedicated review copy. Such advance copies are provided to publishers free of charge in the hopes of garnering publicity in the form of a positive book review. It seems unlikely though that such elaborate presentations were ever a standard industry practice.

Edward Koren, Do You Want To Talk About It?, 1976
Signed and inscribed with drawings by Edward Koren and Calvin Trillin

Edward Koren, Do You Want To Talk About It?, 1976

Review copy from Pantheon Books

"One lyrical landscape--heavy on the Wyeth, light on the Expressionism." [The New Yorker, 1971]

"Do you want to talk about it?" [The New Yorker, 1974]

"Paul's got an article in the magazine section, Ann's book is reviewed by Dick, Buddy has a short
piece on the Op-Ed page, Roy has something in the travel section, there's an essay by Norman on
Matthew's new movie, and a letter on endangered species by your mother." [The New Yorker, 1974]

"What we'd like is a four-hundred-thousand-word novel that oversteps the bounds of decency." [The New Yorker, 1970]

Edward Koren, Do You Want To Talk About It?, 1976
Signed and inscribed with drawings by Edward Koren and Calvin Trillin

March 26, 2015 Update:  I met Calvin Trillin this evening and took the opportunity to ask him about this book and how many similar volumes there were decorated by both him and Edward Koren. While he had all but forgotten it, he thought this copy might be unique.

Note:  Is this the first blog to publish a drawing by Calvin Trillin? Could be. Send all your Calvin Trillin drawings right here. Look, he draws better than George Plimpton.

Books with original drawings are a proud feature of Attempted Bloggery.

There are many posts here about the talented Edward Koren too.

01453