{"product_id":"9780805095524","title":"The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA story of love and adventure in an imaginary Slavic nation on the brink of historic change—the debut of a ribald and raucous new literary voice\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSet in the quaint (though admittedly backward) fictional nation of Scalvusia in 1939, \u003ci\u003eThe Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel\u003c\/i\u003e follows the exploits of a young swineherd with romantic delusions of grandeur. Desperate to attract the voluptuous Roosha, the Gypsy concubine of the local boot-and-shoe magnate, Barnabas and his short-legged steed Wilhelm get embroiled in a series of scandals and misadventures, as every attempt at wooing ends in catastrophe. After the mysterious death of an important figure in the community, a witch-hunt ensues, and a stranger falls from the sky. Barnabas begins to see the terrible tide of history turning in his beloved hometown. The wonderfully eccentric supporting cast includes a priest driven mad by a fig tree, a gang of louts who taunt our reluctant hero at every turn, and a dim-witted vagabond with a goat for a wife. Even as her characters brush up against one of the darkest moments of the twentieth century, Magdalena Zyzak's humor and prose delight in the absurdities of the human animal.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Holt, Henry \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47109267489008,"sku":"9780805095524","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780805095524_p0.jpg?v=1769907321","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780805095524","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}