Friday Freebie: It's Fine By Me by Per Petterson

Congratulations to the following winners of last week's "Fobbit Friday Freebie": Becky Leggieri (Grand Prize:  two signed copies of Fobbit, a Fobbit coffee mug, a Fobbit T-shirt, the audiobook version of Fobbit, a Fobbit tote bag, and Fobbit postcards), Nancy Simpson-Brice (Second Prize: one signed copy of Fobbit, the audiobook version of Fobbit, and a Fobbit tote bag), and Jeffrey Tretin (Third Prize: one signed copy of Fobbit).

This week's book giveaway is It's Fine By Me by Per Petterson from Graywolf Press.  I mentioned It's Fine By Me in a previous edition of "Front Porch Books" here at The Quivering Pen blog.  At that time, I wrote: "In an editor's note at the front of my advance reading copy, Graywolf publisher Fiona McCrae notes that 'Over the next six years or so, Petterson's British publishers and Graywolf Press are planning to release four of his backlist titles: two novels, one collection of short stories, and one collection of essays. Beginning with the novel It's Fine By Me, they are being translated one at a time, in collaboration with Petterson.'"  It's Fine By Me features Arvid Jansen, a character returning from previous Petterson novels.  The plot synopsis:

Fans of Per Petterson’s other books in English will be delighted by this opportunity to observe Arvid Jansen in his youth from a fresh perspective. In It’s Fine By Me, Arvid befriends a boy named Audun. On Audun’s first day of school he refuses to talk or take off his sunglasses; there are stories he would prefer to keep to himself. Audun lives with his mother in a working-class district of Oslo. He delivers newspapers and talks for hours about Jack London and Ernest Hemingway with Arvid. But he’s not sure that school is the right path for him and feels that life holds other possibilities. Sometimes tender, sometimes brutal, It’s Fine By Me is a brilliant novel from the acclaimed author of Out Stealing Horses and I Curse the River of Time.

And to further whet your appetite, here are the book's opening lines:

I was thirteen years old and about to start the seventh class at Veitvet School. My mother said she would go with me on the first day--we were new to the area, and anyway she had no job--but I didn't want her to. It was the 18th of August, the sky was all grey, and as I opened the school gate and went into the playground, it started to rain. I pushed my sunglasses up my nose and walked slowly across the open expanse. It was deserted. Midway, I stopped and looked around. To the right there were two red prefabs, and straight ahead lay the squat, blue main building. And there was a flagpole with a wet, heavy flag clinging to the halyard. Through the windows I could see faces, and those sitting on the inside pressed their noses against the panes and watched me standing in the rain. It was bucketing down. It was my first day, and I was late.

Please note: this is a two-week contest; I'll be out of town next Friday for a romantic, Internet-free weekend getaway with my lovely wife as we celebrate 29 years of wedded bliss.  This is where we'll be staying:

Except you'll need to add about a foot of snow for an accurate picture

If you'd like a chance at winning It's Fine By Me, all you have to do is email your name and mailing address to thequiveringpen@gmail.com

Put FRIDAY FREEBIE in the e-mail subject line.  One entry per person, please.  Despite its name, the Friday Freebie runs all week long and remains open to entries for two weeks until midnight on Dec. 13—at which time I'll draw the winning name.  I'll announce the lucky reader on Dec. 14.  If you'd like to join the mailing list for the once-a-week Quivering Pen newsletter, simply add the words "Sign me up for the newsletter" in the body of your email.  Your email address and other personal information will never be sold or given to a third party (except in those instances where the publisher requires a mailing address for sending Friday Freebie winners copies of the book).

Want to double your odds of winning?  Get an extra entry in the contest by posting a link to this webpage on your blog, your Facebook wall or by tweeting it on Twitter.  Once you've done any of those things, send me an additional e-mail saying "I've shared" and I'll put your name in the hat twice.