{"product_id":"9781605013602","title":"Oliver Twist. ILLUSTRATED","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cu\u003eIllustrated by George Cruikshank\u003c\/u\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eOliver Twist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e (1838) is Charles Dickens' second novel. The book   was originally published in \u003ci\u003eBentley's Miscellany\u003c\/i\u003e as a serial, in monthly   instalments that began appearing in the month of February 1837 and continued   through April 1839. George Cruikshank provided one steel etching per month to   illustrate each instalment.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOliver Twist\u003c\/i\u003e is the first novel in the English language to center   throughout on a child protagonist and is also notable for Dickens' unromantic   portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives. The book's subtitle, \u003ci\u003eThe   Parish Boy's Progress\u003c\/i\u003e alludes to Bunyan's \u003ci\u003eThe Pilgrim's Progress\u003c\/i\u003e and   also to a pair of popular 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, \"A   Rake's Progress\" and \"A Harlot's Progress\".\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eAn early example of the social novel, the book calls the public's attention   to various contemporary social evils, including the Poor Law that states that   poor people should work in workhouses, child labour and the recruitment of   children as criminals. Dickens mocks the hypocrisies of the time by surrounding   the novel's serious themes with sarcasm and dark humour. The novel may have been   inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of his   hardships as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e— Excerpted from \u003cem\u003eWikipedia, \u003c\/em\u003ethe free encyclopedia. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"MobileReference","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47133976920304,"sku":"9781605013602","price":0.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781605013602_p0.jpg?v=1763829019","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781605013602","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}