Monday, April 05, 2010

Neil Gamon Announces House on the Rock American Gods Weekend

Neil Gamon's American Gods to Return to House on the Rock?
By Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, bookseller


Neil Gamon, award-winning author of the immensely popular Coraline book (and movie) and The Graveyard Book just announced via Twitter (@Neilhimself) a House on the Rock American Gods Halloween weekend.


Gamon featured House on the Rock as the setting for his 2001 novel, American Gods. You can read more about the October 29 and 30 event and a little bit of the background on the House of the Rock blog. This sounds like a wonderful event if you liked the book and you like his works.


I visited House on the Rock many times as a college student, when my parents moved to Madison, Wisconsin. I actually attended Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, then spent holidays and summers in Madison. My parents lived in Madison until about 1985, and we would go to the House on the Rock near Dodgeville, Wisconsin, as it grew in size and complexity every year. The House on the Rock is a modern architectural splendor that sits atop a rock pillar, but it is but a small part of what became a much larger collection of wonderful artifacts of invention and art, including pneumatically driven instruments, a large room filled with doll houses, a gigantic clock and the world's largest carousel. Last I knew, it was a county park property that people could pay to go inside and tour -- and well worth the price of admission.


Correction
With reference to the statement that the House on the Rock was a county park property.  The House on the Rock was built and operated by Alex Jordan until he sold it in December, 1988 to Arthur T. Donaldson, a Janesville, WI businessman and friend of Alex.  It has always been under private ownership.



We are looking forward to Neil Gamon's return to the House on the Rock!
-A. Donaldson, June 22, 2010-



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