{"product_id":"9781593083045","title":"The Way We Live Now (Barnes \u0026 Noble Classics Series)","description":"\u003ci\u003eThe Way We Live Now\u003c\/i\u003e, by \u003cb\u003eAnthony Trollope\u003c\/b\u003e, is part of the \u003ci\u003eBarnes \u0026amp; Noble Classics\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of \u003ci\u003eBarnes \u0026amp; Noble Classics\u003c\/i\u003e: \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNew introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBiographies of the authors \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFootnotes and endnotes \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSelective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComments by other famous authors \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eStudy questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBibliographies for further reading \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIndices \u0026amp; Glossaries, when appropriate\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003eAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. \u003ci\u003eBarnes \u0026amp; Noble Classics \u003c\/i\u003epulls together a constellation of influences—biographical, historical, and literary—to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.\u003cp\u003eRuthless greed, relentless self-promotion, corporate swindles and scandals on a grand scale—indeed this sounds like “the way we live now.” Though \u003cb\u003eAnthony Trollope’s\u003c\/b\u003e title actually refers to 1870s England, his scathing satire of a money-mad culture cuts close to the contemporary bone. At its center stands Augustus Melmotte, a crooked financier whose enormous schemes ensnare an array of avaricious aristocrats, politicians, and “important people.” Among them are Lady Carbury, who earns the family bread by churning out fatuous potboilers (as did Trollope’s mother) and her spendthrift, ne'er-do-well son, Felix, who sets his sights on Melmotte’s dangerously beautiful daughter, Marie. Meanwhile, Felix’s sister, Hetta, falls for Melmotte’s partner, Paul, who’s encumbered with an American fiancée, herself a widow who may have shot her husband. As the frauds expand and the romantic entanglements grow ever more complex, Trollope revels in the antics of his characters while pillorying the corruption of their morally bankrupt society. Nathaniel Hawthorne said it best, praising Trollope for putting England “under a glass case, with all its inhabitants going about their daily business, and not suspecting that they were made a show of.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKaren Odden\u003c\/b\u003e received her M.A. from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and her Ph.D. in English literature from New York University. Her dissertation on the medical, legal, and literary discourses that surrounded Victorian railway disasters discusses works by Trollope and his contemporaries, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, M. E. Braddon, and Mrs. Henry Wood. Chapters and articles have appeared in books of literary criticism, anthologies, the \u003ci\u003eJournal of Victorian Culture\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eStudies in the Novel\u003c\/i\u003e; she has taught at the University of Michigan, New York University, and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Currently a freelance writer and assistant editor for \u003ci\u003eVictorian Literature and Culture\u003c\/i\u003e, she resides in Arizona with her husband and two children.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Barnes \u0026 Noble","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47048675557616,"sku":"9781593083045","price":12.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781593083045_p0.jpg?v=1763811896","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781593083045","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}