{"product_id":"9781908670113","title":"The Mussel Feast","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe modern German classic that has shaped an entire generation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA mother and her two teenage children sit at the dinner table. In the middle stands a large pot of cooked mussels. Why has the father not returned home? As the evening wears on, we glimpse the issues that are tearing this family apart.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘I wrote this book in August 1989, just before the Fall of the Berlin Wall. I wanted to understand how revolutions start. It seemed logical to use the figure of a tyrannical father and turn the story into a German family saga.’ Birgit Vanderbeke\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy Peirene chose to publish this book: ‘I love this monologue. It's the first Peirene book which made me laugh out loud with tears in my eyes. The author lays bare the contradictory logic of an inflexible mind. This is a poignant yet hilarious narrative with a brilliant ending.’ \u003cstrong\u003eMeike Ziervogel\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘We are playing catch-up here with something of a contemporary European classic.’ \u003cstrong\u003eDavid Mills, \u003cem\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘The novella brilliantly renders both the power of the revolutionary moment and the uncertainty of the future it unleashes.’ \u003cstrong\u003eJane Yager, \u003cem\u003eTimes Literary Supplement\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘This is one of those books that doesn't tell us what to think, but sets us off thinking . . . Who writes this kind of nuanced work in Britain?’ \u003cstrong\u003eNicholas Lezard, \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Sinister, funny and heartening, this taut novella reflects, within the microcosm of the family, the dissolution of the East German state, with an insight, economy and controlled fury that have made it a modern German classic.’ \u003cstrong\u003eChris Schuler, \u003cem\u003eIndependent\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘There is a political edge to Vanderbeke's provocative examination of patriarchal violence, and part of the power of this darkly comic tale is how well it succeeds as an allegory for political tyranny.’ \u003cstrong\u003eLucy Popescu, \u003cem\u003eIndependent on Sunday\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Astute, darkly funny, provocative, often uncomfortable in its devastating depiction of patriarchal oppression but ultimately uplifting.’ \u003cstrong\u003ePam Norfolk, \u003cem\u003eLancashire Evening Post\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘An extraordinary book, the story unspooled with masterful restraint, and written with simplicity and precision.’ \u003cstrong\u003eFrancesca Segal, \u003cem\u003eStandpoint\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSHORTLISTED FOR THE INDEPENDENT FOREIGN FICTION PRIZE 2014\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWINNER OF THE SCHLEGEL-TIECK PRIZE FOR GERMAN TRANSLATION 2014\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFOYLES BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2013\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Peirene Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137414054128,"sku":"9781908670113","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781908670113_p0.jpg?v=1763621677","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781908670113","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}