{"product_id":"9781617753947","title":"Marvel and a Wonder","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"A beguiling and slyly disquieting storyteller . . . Meno transforms wintery Chicago into a wondrous crystallization of countless dreams and tragedies, while telling the stories of two derailed young artists . . . poignant and funny.\"—\u003ci\u003eKansas City Star \u003c\/i\u003eon \u003ci\u003eOffice Girl\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The wisest, most humane and transcendent novel on the contemporary family since \u003ci\u003eThe Corrections \u003c\/i\u003e. . . A marvelous book.\"—Irvine Welsh on \u003ci\u003eThe Great Perhaps\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eMarvel and a Wonder \u003c\/i\u003eis a darkly mesmerizing epic and literary page-turner set at the end of the twentieth century. In summer 1995, Jim Falls, a Korean War vet, struggles to raise his sixteen-year-old grandson, Quentin, on a farm in southern Indiana. In July, they receive a mysterious gift—a beautiful quarter horse—which upends the balance of their difficult lives. The horse's appearance catches the attention of a pair of troubled, meth-dealing brothers and, after a violent altercation, the horse is stolen and sold. Grandfather and grandson must travel the landscape of the bleak heartland to reclaim the animal and to confront the ruthless party that has taken possession of it. Along the way, both will be forced to face the misperceptions and tragedies of their past.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEvoking the writing of William Faulkner and Denis Johnson, this brilliant, deeply moving work explores the harrowing, often beautiful marvels of a nation challenged by its own beliefs. Ambitious, expansive, and laden with suspense, \u003ci\u003eMarvel and a Wonder \u003c\/i\u003epresents an unforgettable pair of protagonists at the beginning of one America and the end of another.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJoe Meno \u003c\/b\u003eis a fiction writer and playwright who lives in Chicago. He is the winner of the Nelson Algren Literary Award, a Pushcart Prize, the Great Lakes Book Award, and a finalist for the Story Prize.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Akashic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47037951508720,"sku":"9781617753947","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781617753947_p0.jpg?v=1763857765","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781617753947","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}