{"product_id":"9781934824672","title":"My First Suicide","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Pilch's antic sensibility confirms that he is the compatriot of Witold Gombrowicz, the Polish maestro of absurdist pranks. But readers with a taste for the fermented Irish blarney of Flann O’Brien, Samuel Beckett, and John Kennedy Toole might also savor Pilch.\"—\u003ci\u003eBarnes\u0026amp;Noble Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNeither strictly a collection of stories nor a novel, the ten pieces that comprise \u003ci\u003eMy First Suicide\u003c\/i\u003e straddles the line between intimate revelation and drunken confession. These stories reveal a nostalgic and poetic Pilch, one who can pen a character's lyrical ode to the fate of his father's perfect chess table in one story, examine a teacher's desperate and dangerous infatuation with a student in the next, and then, always true to his obsessions, tell a remarkably touching story that begins by describing his narrator's excitement at the possibility of a three-way with the seductive soccer-fan, Anka Chow Chow.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe stories of \u003ci\u003eMy First Suicide\u003c\/i\u003e combine irony and humor, anecdote and gossip, love and desire with an irresistibly readable style that is vintage Pilch.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJerzy Pilch\u003c\/b\u003e is one of Poland's most important contemporary writers and journalists. In addition to his long-running satirical newspaper column, Pilch has published several novels, and has been nominated for Poland's prestigious NIKE Literary Award four times; he finally won the Award in 2001 for \u003ci\u003eThe Mighty Angel\u003c\/i\u003e. His novels have been translated into numerous languages.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Frick\u003c\/b\u003e is a professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of California, Berkeley.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Open Letter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137258471664,"sku":"9781934824672","price":9.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781934824672_p0.jpg?v=1769897047","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781934824672","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}