{"product_id":"9781681370293","title":"The Return of Munchausen","description":"Baron 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. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\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.","brand":"New York Review Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47139757621488,"sku":"9781681370293","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781681370293_p0.jpg?v=1763692139","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781681370293","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}