{"product_id":"2940011919718","title":"In The Great World (Small)","description":"The narrator is unapologetic, rude, lazy, occasionally noble, generally a coward, and always his own worst enemy. He’s somehow managed to create a comfortable – if shaky – bubble of comfort in Phoenix after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina. He lives in a cheap motel; he hangs out at the MTP Sports Bar and Grill – when he has money – and drinks in his room when he doesn’t.  He scrapes by on day labor and a short-term work ethic.  He’s got no interest in regular work, going back to college, doing anything, or maintaining a relationship. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThrough him we meet other people who are just as broken, though less aware of their situation, and we view the world the narrator lives in: a post 9\/11 two-dimensional world without morality or ethics, where people get screwed over whether they do the right thing or not; a world of drug dealers, abused wives, manipulated boy toys, bookies, hookers, crooked cops, and a cocaine-addled bar owner. All of them are, like the narrator, just looking for some kind of shaky comfort in the world; and, just like the narrator, unable to find it. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the story progresses, the narrator mingles bits of his own life – a Midwestern semi-religious upbringing, the death of his father, a failed early marriage, a deserted college career –  in with the sometimes unflattering descriptions of the people around him. And finally, as the shaky world he’s created around himself starts to fall apart – the day jobs run out, the bar is closing, the motel is shut down so that the local university can build a parking garage – he finds himself forced to do the one thing he never really likes to do: make a decision about what to do next.","brand":"Dead Machine Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47080911536368,"sku":"2940011919718","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940011919718_p0.jpg?v=1763551359","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940011919718","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}