{"product_id":"9780547561424","title":"A Dangerous Friend","description":"\u003cb\u003eWell-meaning American civilians make an attempt at nation-building during the Vietnam War, in this “powerful” novel by a National Book Award finalist (\u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Named one of the Best Books of the Year by\u003ci\u003e Time\u003c\/i\u003e and the\u003ci\u003e Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e In this “extraordinary,” beautifully constructed large-canvas novel of Saigon in 1965, Ward Just takes a penetrating look into America’s role in the world (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Sydney Parade, a political scientist, has left his home and family in an effort to become part of something larger than himself, a foreign aid operation in the South Vietnamese capital. Even before he arrives, he encounters French and Americans who reveal to him the unsettling depths of a conflict he thought he understood—and in Saigon, the Vietnamese add yet another dimension. Before long, the rampant missteps and misplaced ideals trap Parade and others in a moral crossfire.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Emotionally wrenching and always beautifully observant,” this is a story of conscience and its consequences among those for whom Vietnam was neither the right fight nor the wrong fight but the only fight (\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e). The exotic tropical surroundings, coarsening and corrupting effects of a colonial regime, and visionary delusions of the American democratizers all play their part. “A literary triumph that transcends its war story” and a New York Times Notable Book, \u003ci\u003eA Dangerous Friend\u003c\/i\u003e can be justly compared to Joseph Conrad’s \u003ci\u003eNostromo\u003c\/i\u003e or Graham Greene’s \u003ci\u003eThe Quiet American\u003c\/i\u003e—a thrilling narrative roiling with intrigue, mayhem, and betrayal (\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Makes you want to run screaming into the street to protest retrospectively the war he has so movingly recreated.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Houghton Mifflin Harcourt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47107075539184,"sku":"9780547561424","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780547561424_p0.jpg?v=1769896389","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780547561424","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}