{"product_id":"9781681370286","title":"The Return of Munchausen","description":"\u003cp\u003eBaron Munchausen’s hold on the European imagination dates back to the late eighteenth century when he first pulled himself (and his horse) out of a swamp by his own upturned pigtail. Inspired by the extravagant yarns of a straight-faced former cavalry officer, Hieronymus von Münchhausen, the best-selling legend quickly eclipsed the real-life baron who helped the Russians fight the Turks. Galloping across continents and centuries, the mythical Munchausen’s \u003ci\u003eTravels\u003c\/i\u003e went through hundreds of editions of increasing length and luxuriance. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSigizmund Krzhizhanovsky, the Russian modernist master of the unsettling and the uncanny, also took certain liberties with the mythical baron. In this phantasmagoric roman à clef set in 1920s Berlin, London, and Moscow, Munchausen dauntlessly upholds his old motto “Truth in lies,” while remaining a fierce champion of his own imagination. At the same time, the two-hundred-year-old baron and self-taught philosopher has agreed to return to Russia, Lenin’s Russia, undercover. This reluctant secret agent has come out of retirement to engage with the real world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New York Review Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47042757984496,"sku":"9781681370286","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781681370286_p0.jpg?v=1763692802","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781681370286","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}