{"product_id":"9781565126961","title":"A Miracle of Catfish","description":"Larry Brown has been a force in American literature since taking critics by storm with his debut collection, \u003ci\u003eFacing the Music\u003c\/i\u003e, in 1988. His subsequent work—five novels, another story collection, and two books of nonfiction—continued to bring extraordinary praise and national attention to the writer \u003ci\u003eNew York Newsday\u003c\/i\u003e called a \"master.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In November 2004, Brown sent the nearly completed manuscript of his sixth novel to his literary agent. A week later, he died of a massive heart attack. He was fifty-three years old.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Miracle of Catfish\u003c\/i\u003e is that novel. Brown's trademarks—his raw detail, pared-down prose, and characters under siege—are all here. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This beautiful, heartbreaking anthem to the writer's own North Mississippi land and the hard-working, hard-loving, hard-losing men it spawns is the story of one year in the lives of five characters—an old farmer with a new pond he wants stocked with baby catfish; a bankrupt fish pond stocker who secretly releases his forty-pound brood catfish into the farmer's pond; a little boy from the trailer home across the road who inadvertently hooks the behemoth catfish; the boy's inept father; and a former convict down the road who kills a second time to save his daughter.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e That Larry Brown died so young, and before he could see\u003ci\u003e A Miracle of Catfish\u003c\/i\u003e published, is a tragedy. That he had time to enrich the legacy of his work with this remarkable book is a blessing.","brand":"Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47146552393968,"sku":"9781565126961","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781565126961_p0.jpg?v=1769899868","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781565126961","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}