{"product_id":"9780976631194","title":"501 Minutes to Christ: Personal Essays","description":"\u003cbr\u003ePoe Ballantine’s second collection of personal essays follows, and expands on, his acclaimed \u003ci\u003eThings I Like About America.\u003c\/i\u003e Ballantine’s world is a crazy quilt of odd jobs, eccentric characters, boarding houses, buses, and beer, rendered in the author’s by turns absurd and poignant voice. “The Irving” briskly details the author’s diabolic plan to punch John Irving in the nose after opening for him before an audience of 2,000 people at the prestigious Wordstock Festival. “Wide-Eyed in the Gaudy Shop” takes readers on a wild ride through Mexico as Ballantine meets and marries his wife Christina. “Blessed Meadows for Minor Poets” offers a devastating take on the author’s life as his years of struggle to secure a major contract for a short story collection end in catastrophe. The writer the \u003ci\u003eSeattle Times\u003c\/i\u003e called “part Huck Finn, part Hunter S. Thompson” brings a blistering wit and shrewd observation to this composite portrait of an unconventional life.","brand":"Hawthorne Books \u0026 Literary Arts, Incorporated","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47029475705072,"sku":"9780976631194","price":13.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780976631194_p0.jpg?v=1763881522","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780976631194","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}