{"product_id":"9781681444468","title":"What You Want","description":"Patrick is still in love with his separated wife. Returning with their son after a trip to an amusement park, he begs, one last time, to reconcile with her. When she refuses, he is driven to thoughtless desperation: a bottle of sleeping pills, a bottle of whisky. And in his dying dream, he revisits that theme park of childish desire. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere he finds the landscape - still garish and indulgent - has evolved. The attractions are religion, money and sex. The characters - costumed and acted - are transformed into Jefferson, Xunzi, Aristotle. And their purpose is to instruct Patrick in the pursuit of happiness throughout human history. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut Patrick can only answer with his own story. He remembers falling in love with Louise. Recalls the enlightenment of their youth and the banality of their family life. He tells of their marriage, how it came under strain after the birth of his son; how he cheated; the unravelling of all his joy. Yet still his love persists. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeginning with the first line of Dante's \u003ci\u003eDivine Comedy\u003c\/i\u003e and taking in Disneyworld, the Declaration of Independence and the canon of philosophy in its stride, \u003ci\u003eWhat You Want\u003c\/i\u003e is a literary feat: a novel written entirely in verse, depicting life in all its ordinariness. It gives voice to a new Everyman and brings forth an unparallelled modern epic.","brand":"Quercus","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47179202560240,"sku":"9781681444468","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781681444468_p0.jpg?v=1763692386","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781681444468","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}