And now I have been told, and I have seen, that NPR.org has recommended Perfect From Now On in its round-up of summer-time reads. They’ve also posted an excerpt of the book on its website, and apparently also recommended it on an as-yet-unrevealed on-air program. To celebrate the unbelievably good news that I share real estate with a J.R.R. Tolkien book (Sellers and Tolkien together at last!), I am hereby announcing a contest that was devised by my friend Art Chung: Whoever e-mails me the best photo of a woman reading Perfect From Now On on a beach or in a park will win the Coolest Prize Ever. I’m not sure what the C.P.E. is at this juncture, but trust me: It will be cool. Now how do we define “best photo”? The following hierarchy will be followed:

#1: any member of Guided By Voices or Pavement also appears in the photo
#2: the photo is snapped in a third-world country
#3: the woman is wearing a bikini
#4: a small animal also appears in the photo
#5: the woman is laughing OR crying

I’m assuming that I’ll get at most one photo submission. So “best photo” might also mean “only photo.” A C.P.E. has never been more easy to win.