{"product_id":"9780802195449","title":"A Personal Matter","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the Nobel Prize–winning author: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e“One of the great short novels of the 20th century” (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Internationally acclaimed as one of the world’s most influential writers, Kenzaburō Ōe brings to the fore the post-WWII rage and anxiety of a decorous society in this “deathly black comedy . . . dripping with nuclear terror” (\u003ci\u003eThe Japan Times\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Bird is an antisocial twenty-seven-year-old intellectual hanging on to a failing marriage with whiskey. He dreams of going to Africa where the sky sprawls with possibilities. Then, as though walloped by a massive invisible fist, Bird’s Utopian fantasies are shattered when his wife gives birth to what he calls their “monster baby.” Now, Bird is left with one question: How can he and his wife spend the rest of their lives with this damaged thing clinging to their backs?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e As shameful, disgraceful, and unthinkable a desire as it is, Bird has an answer. Not sealed. Not just yet. Not before Bird flees on a bender of indiscriminate (and frustratingly impotent) sex, hard liquor, self-delusion, and most terrifying of all—self-discovery.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Very close to a perfect contemporary novel.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “An astonishing novel.” —\u003ci\u003eMother Jones\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Grove\/Atlantic, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47127955505392,"sku":"9780802195449","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780802195449_p0.jpg?v=1763725935","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780802195449","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}