{"product_id":"9780393344462","title":"Caesar: The Life Story of a Panda-Leopard","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"O'Brian was only 15 when [\u003cem\u003eCaesar\u003c\/em\u003e] was published, but he already possessed an instinct for deft plotting and uncomplicated narrative.\"—\u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A stark tale encompassing the cruelty and beauty of the natural world, and a clear demonstration of the storytelling gift that would later flower in the Aubrey\/Maturin series. When he was fourteen years old and beset by chronic ill health, Patrick O'Brian began creating his first fictional character. \"I did it in my bedroom, and a little when I should have been doing my homework,\" he confessed in a note on the original dust-jacket. \u003cem\u003eCaesar\u003c\/em\u003e tells the picaresque, enchanting, and quite bloodthirsty story of a creature whose father is a giant panda and whose mother is a snow leopard. Through the eyes and voice of this fabulous creature, we learn of his life as a cub, his first hunting exploits, his first encounters with man, his capture and taming. \u003cem\u003eCaesar\u003c\/em\u003e was published in 1930, three months after O'Brian's fifteenth birthday, but the dry wit and unsentimental precision O'Brian readers savor in the Aubrey\/Maturin series is already in evidence. The book combines Stephen Maturin's fascination and encyclopedic knowledge of natural history with the narrative charm of Rudyard Kipling's \u003cem\u003eThe Jungle Book\u003c\/em\u003e. It was published in England and the United States, and in translation in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Japan. Reviews hailed the author as the \"boy-Thoreau.\" \"We can see here a true storyteller in the making....a gripping narrative, which holds the reader's attention and never flags.\"—\u003cem\u003eThe Spectator\u003c\/em\u003e","brand":"Norton, W. W. \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47104339149040,"sku":"9780393344462","price":9.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780393344462_p0.jpg?v=1763697504","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780393344462","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}