{"product_id":"9780974194905","title":"A Feast Of Peonies","description":"This novel is written in the second person singular in a way that gives it more immediacy than the first person, and certainly more than the third. It is set in present day Chicago. The protagonist is a middle-aged black man, Ashanti Ra, who, because he is on the run from the law accused of a crime he did not commit, is forced to live with a young Puerto Rican gay man, Phillip a.k.a. Phyllis, whom he met at a Latin bar a couple of days earlier. He was at the bar because he had just had an argument with his white girlfriend of several years. She wanted to get married; he did not.\u003cbr\u003e The story concerns Ashanti's slow realization that, although he himself is not gay, he does care for Phyllis, and eventually accepts Phyllis as a lover.\u003cbr\u003e The theme of the book is that things in life happen, often with no explanation or apparent reason, and the story is laced with philosophical and religious musings.\u003cbr\u003e There is a subplot obliquely told in alternate chapters of Ashanti's sexual abuse as a boy by an older male cousin. Much of the protagonist's childhood characterization is revealed in these chapters.\u003cbr\u003e This novel is for adults only, as some scenes depict explicit sex.","brand":"Penknife Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47035297104112,"sku":"9780974194905","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780974194905_p0.jpg?v=1763886205","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780974194905","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}