{"product_id":"baudolino-9780156029063","title":"Baudolino","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eBaudolino\u003c\/em\u003e, with its richly variegated haul of medieval treasures, remains compulsively readable.\" \u003cem\u003e--The New York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe author of the international sensation \u003cem\u003eThe Name of the Rose \u003c\/em\u003ereturns to the Middle Ages in this beguiling tale of history, myth, and invention.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is April 1204, and Constantinople, the splendid capital of the Byzantine Empire, is being sacked and burned by the knights of the Fourth Crusade. Amid the carnage and confusion, one Baudolino saves a historian and high court official from certain death at the hands of the crusading warriors and proceeds to tell his own fantastical story.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn a simple peasant in northern Italy, Baudolino has two major gifts--a talent for learning languages and a skill in telling lies. When still a boy, he meets a foreign commander in the woods, charming him with his quick wit and lively mind. The commander--who proves to be Emperor Frederick Barbarossa--adopts Baudolino and sends him to the university in Paris, where he makes a number of fearless, adventurous friends.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpurred on by myths and their own reveries, this merry band sets out in search of Prester John, a legendary priest-king said to rule over a vast kingdom in the East--a phantasmagorical land of strange creatures with eyes on their shoulders and mouths on their stomachs, of eunuchs, unicorns, and lovely maidens.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith dazzling digressions, outrageous tricks, extraordinary feeling, and vicarious reflections on our postmodern age, this is Eco the storyteller at his brilliant best.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEco, Umberto:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - UMBERTO ECO (1932-2016) was the author of numerous essay collections and seven novels, including \u003ci\u003eThe Name of the Rose, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Prague Cemetery, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eInventing the Enemy. \u003c\/i\u003eHe received Italy's highest literary award, the Premio Strega, was named a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur by the French government, and was an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.","brand":"Houghton Mifflin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50648805867794,"sku":"9780156029063","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_de2fcabf-6423-4449-8fd0-f025e67cb210.jpg?v=1733249252","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/baudolino-9780156029063","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}