{"product_id":"all-the-secrets-of-the-world-9781638930686","title":"All the Secrets of the World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A breathtaking success . . . dazzling.\" --\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"[A] rollicking, wide-ranging, unpredictable novel--part crime story, part coming-of-age, part satire, part deadly serious.\" --Rebecca Makkai, Pulitzer finalist for \u003ci\u003eThe Great Believers\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eWho pays for the secrets we keep? For the lies we tell ourselves? \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLorena Saenz has just been paired with Jenny Stallworth for a school project by a teacher hoping to unite two girls from starkly different backgrounds. Jenny is pretty and popular, and Lorena is quickly drawn into the family's picture-perfect suburban lifestyle. Jenny's mother, Rosemary, is glamorous, but needy--she treats Lorena like a friend, if only to break up the monotony of lonely afternoons. Jenny's father, Marcus, spends his days teaching and his nights wandering the desert, absorbed in his research on the scorpions of Death Valley. Outwardly, they are the perfect family, poised for success in 1981 Sacramento at the dawn of a glorious American decade. Lorena finds her access intoxicating and alluring, a far cry from her life in the small apartment she shares with her single mother. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut the veneer is shattered when Marcus disappears. The prime suspect: Lorena's troubled older brother, Tony. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTo uncover the truth, Lorena must embark on an unforgiving odyssey into the desert, into the secrets and lies of the Stallworth family, and the dark heart of America's criminal justice system. A shape-shifting social novel, \u003ci\u003eAll the Secrets of the World\u003c\/i\u003e is a propulsive tour de force from a writer at the height of his powers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSteve Almond\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of eleven books of fiction and nonfiction, including the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestsellers \u003ci\u003eCandyfreak\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAgainst Football\u003c\/i\u003e. His essays and reviews have been published in venues ranging from the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003ePloughshares\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003ePoets \u0026amp; Writers\u003c\/i\u003e, and his short fiction has appeared in \u003ci\u003eBest American Short Stories\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Pushcart Prize\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBest American Mysteries\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBest American Erotica\u003c\/i\u003e. Almond is the recipient of grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. He cohosted the \u003ci\u003eDear Sugars\u003c\/i\u003e podcast with his pal Cheryl Strayed for four years, and teaches Creative Writing at the Neiman Fellowship at Harvard and Wesleyan. He lives in Arlington, Massachusetts, with his family and his anxiety.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Zando","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50648372740370,"sku":"9781638930686","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_097e9244-d50d-4a0d-a85f-62ba266fefdf.jpg?v=1733240972","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/all-the-secrets-of-the-world-9781638930686","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}