DragonflyCQ mentioned that the show Carnivale is like a puzzle. You know, that instantly jogged my memory to a book I think most SGers would love: Masquerade by Kit Williams.
My sixth grade teacher introduced us to it. Kit Williams was a philosopher/ merchant marine who looked like a cross of Jim Henson, a wood sprite, and a Hawkwind roadie. He made this sprawling, ultra-psychedelic animated tale of a hare who was sent by the moon to give a treasure to the sun. The upshot of the book is-- it's filled with clues (a lot of them, mostly dealing with mythology, riddles, and magic squares) to lead the reader to a real-life treasure buried by Williams in England, a gold and turquoise rabbit/ jewel.
The prize was found... by a guy whose dog was relieving itself on a rock where it was buried! The man had actually read the book, but never solved it; it was his dog that found it. I think it was worth about $20,000, more as a collector's item.
Sadly, the book is out of print. I gave my copy, including the Washington Post article about the jewel's discovery, to my friend Scottie when he had his first son. I thought it was one of the coolest books I could give them. I need to eBay/ Amazon around for a copy. I strongly encourage you, or anyone, to get one through interlibrary loan and check it out.
The artwork is fantastic.
edit ps - I just looked at the Amazon records. Apparently, it's around for reasonable prices. Many people mention that the jewel-finder "cheated." This is utter rubbish; it was explained, as I wrote above, in major newspapers that it was accidentally found by this guy walking his dog; the only way to have "cheated" would have been to solve the puzzles or know Williams. I doubt even the publishers knew where it was. Apparently a later edition explained all of the puzzles but 1) it's also out of print, and going for $40 at Amazon, 2) seems to kinda take the fun out of it, to me.
My sixth grade teacher introduced us to it. Kit Williams was a philosopher/ merchant marine who looked like a cross of Jim Henson, a wood sprite, and a Hawkwind roadie. He made this sprawling, ultra-psychedelic animated tale of a hare who was sent by the moon to give a treasure to the sun. The upshot of the book is-- it's filled with clues (a lot of them, mostly dealing with mythology, riddles, and magic squares) to lead the reader to a real-life treasure buried by Williams in England, a gold and turquoise rabbit/ jewel.
The prize was found... by a guy whose dog was relieving itself on a rock where it was buried! The man had actually read the book, but never solved it; it was his dog that found it. I think it was worth about $20,000, more as a collector's item.
Sadly, the book is out of print. I gave my copy, including the Washington Post article about the jewel's discovery, to my friend Scottie when he had his first son. I thought it was one of the coolest books I could give them. I need to eBay/ Amazon around for a copy. I strongly encourage you, or anyone, to get one through interlibrary loan and check it out.
The artwork is fantastic.
edit ps - I just looked at the Amazon records. Apparently, it's around for reasonable prices. Many people mention that the jewel-finder "cheated." This is utter rubbish; it was explained, as I wrote above, in major newspapers that it was accidentally found by this guy walking his dog; the only way to have "cheated" would have been to solve the puzzles or know Williams. I doubt even the publishers knew where it was. Apparently a later edition explained all of the puzzles but 1) it's also out of print, and going for $40 at Amazon, 2) seems to kinda take the fun out of it, to me.
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
sugarfish:
Yes. I am a butt polyp on TV.
rockinricky:
I had a feeling you would like that show. It's heaven for rock music geeks.