{"product_id":"2940169867688","title":"A Good Country: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003eLaguna Beach, California, 2009. Alireza Courdee, a fourteen-year-old straight-A student and chemistry whiz, takes his first hit of pot. In as long as it takes to inhale and exhale, he is transformed from the high-achieving son of Iranian immigrants into a happy-go-lucky stoner. He loses his virginity, takes up surfing, and sneaks away to all-night raves. For the first time, Reza¿now Rez¿feels like an American teen. Life is smooth; even lying to his strict father comes easily.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut then he changes again, falling out with the bad boy surfers and in with a group of kids more awake to the world around them, who share his background, and whose ideas fill him with a very different sense of purpose. Within a year, Reza and two friends are making their way to Syria to join in the fight.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTimely, nuanced, and emotionally forceful, \u003ci\u003eA Good Country \u003c\/i\u003eis a gorgeous meditation on modern life, religious radicalization, and a young man caught between vastly different worlds. What we are left with at the dramatic end is not an assessment of good or evil, east versus west, but a lingering question that applies to all souls: Does a person decide how to live, or is their life decided for them?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Blackstone Audio, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47104709329136,"sku":"2940169867688","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940169867688_p0.jpg?v=1769901680","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940169867688","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}