{"product_id":"9780060758721","title":"The Dissident","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the PEN\/Malamud Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eLucky Girls\u003c\/i\u003e comes a bold, intricately woven first novel about an enigmatic stranger who disrupts the life of one American family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYuan Zhao, a celebrated Chinese performance artist and political dissident, has accepted a one year's artist's residency in Los Angeles. He is to be a Visiting Scholar at the St. Anselm's School for Girls, teaching advanced art, and hosted by one of the school's most devoted families: the wealthy if dysfunctional Traverses. But when their guest arrives, the Traverses are preoccupied with their own problems. Cece—devoted mother and contemporary art enthusiast—worries about the recent arrest of her son, Max. Unable to communicate with her husband, Gordon, a psychiatrist distracted by his passion for genealogical research, she turns to Gordon's wayward brother, Phil. Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Olivia Travers is just relieved that her classmates seem to be ignoring the weird Chinese art teacher living in her pool house—at least until a brilliant but troublesome new student appears in his class.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe dissident, for his part, is delighted to be left alone. His relationship to the 1989 Democracy Movement and his past in a Beijing underground artists' community together give him reason for not wanting to be scrutinized too carefully. The trouble starts when he and his American hosts begin to see one another with clearer eyes. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA novel about secrets, love, and the shining chaos of everyday American life, \u003ci\u003eThe Dissident\u003c\/i\u003e is a remarkable and surprising group portrait, done with a light, sure hand. Reviewing \u003ci\u003eLucky Girls\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eSeattle Times\u003c\/i\u003e praised Freudenberger's \"merciless and often hilarious eye for family dynamics, and her equally sharp eye for cultures in collision.\" These talents and others are on full display here, as the author captures her characters in their struggles with art, with identity—and with one another. As the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e observed, \"Young writers as ambitious—and as good—as Nell Freudenberger give us a reason for hope.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins Publishers","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47064279711984,"sku":"9780060758721","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780060758721_p0.jpg?v=1763767489","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780060758721","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}