{"product_id":"at-the-end-of-the-matinee-9781542005180","title":"At the End of the Matinee","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBestselling author Keiichiro Hirano offers a timeless ode to love's fragility and its resilience in this delicate, award-winning novel.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eClassical guitarist Satoshi Makino has toured the world and is at the height of his career when he first lays eyes on journalist Yoko Komine. Their bond forms instantly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpon their first meeting, after Makino's concert in Tokyo, they begin a conversation that will go on for years, with long spells of silence broken by powerful moments of connection. She's drawn by Makino's tender music and his sensitivity, and he is intrigued by Yoko's refinement and intellect. But neither knows enough about love to see it blooming nor has the confidence to make the first move. Will their connection endure, weaving them back together like instruments in a symphony, or will fate lead them apart?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBlending the harmonies of Kazuo Ishiguro's \u003ci\u003eNocturnes\u003c\/i\u003e and the sensuality of Ian McEwan's \u003ci\u003eEnduring Love\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAt the End of the Matinee\u003c\/i\u003e is an enchanting and thought-provoking love story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHirano, Keiichiro:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eKeiichiro Hirano is an award-winning and bestselling novelist whose debut novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Eclipse\u003c\/i\u003e, won the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1998, when he was a twenty-three-year-old university student. A cultural envoy to Paris appointed by Japan's Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Hirano has lectured throughout Europe. Widely read in France, China, Korea, Taiwan, Italy, and Egypt, Hirano's novels include the Watanabe Junichi Literary Prize-winning novel \u003ci\u003eAt the End of the Matinee\u003c\/i\u003e--a runaway bestseller in Japan--and the critically acclaimed and Yomiuri Prize for Literature-winning \u003ci\u003eA Man\u003c\/i\u003e. His short fiction has appeared in the \u003ci\u003eColumbia Anthology of Modern Japanese Literature\u003c\/i\u003e. For more information, visit http: \/\/en.k-hirano.com and follow Hirano on Twitter at @hiranok_en.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Amazon Crossing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50649389138194,"sku":"9781542005180","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_772d4beb-aaf2-4649-a236-b4dc9b70c00b.jpg?v=1733262668","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/at-the-end-of-the-matinee-9781542005180","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}