{"product_id":"9781612192529","title":"The Dialogue of the Dogs","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Ever since I could chase a bone, I've longed to talk....\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first talking-dog story in Western literature—from the writer  generally acknowledged, alongside William Shakespeare, as the founding  father of modern literature, no less?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIndeed, \u003ci\u003eThe Dialogue of the Dogs\u003c\/i\u003e features, in a condensed, powerful version, all the traits the author of \u003ci\u003eDon Quixote\u003c\/i\u003e is famous for: It's a picaresque rich in bawdy humor, social satire,  and fantasy, and it uses story tactics that were innovative at the time,  such as the philandering husband who, given syphilis by his wife, is  hospitalized. Late one feverish night he overhears the hospital's guard  dogs telling each other their life's story—a wickedly ironic tale within  the tale within the tale, wherein the two virtuous canines find  themselves victim, time and again, to deceitful, corrupt humanity. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHere  in a sparkling new translation, the parody of a Greek dialogue is so  entertaining it belies the stunningly prescient sophistication of this  novella—that it is a story about telling stories, and about creating a  new way to discuss morality that isn't rooted in empiricism. In short,  it's a masterful work that flies in the face of the forms and ethics of  its time...and perhaps ours as well.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eThe Art of The Novella Series\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eToo short to be a novel, too long to be a short story, the novella is generally unrecognized by academics and publishers. Nonetheless, it is a form beloved and practiced by literature's greatest writers. In the Art Of The Novella series, Melville House celebrates this renegade art form and its practitioners with titles that are, in many instances, presented in book form for the first time.","brand":"Melville House Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47135335153904,"sku":"9781612192529","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781612192529_p0.jpg?v=1763841855","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781612192529","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}