{"product_id":"black-swan-green-9780812974010","title":"Black Swan Green","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eBy the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Bone Clocks\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCloud Atlas \u003c\/i\u003e Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eSelected by \u003ci\u003eTime \u003c\/i\u003eas One of the Ten Best Books of the Year\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e A \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Book Named One of the Best Books of the Year by \u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post Book World, The Christian Science Monitor, Rocky Mountain News, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Kirkus Reviews \u003c\/i\u003e A \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize Finalist Winner of the ALA Alex Award Finalist for the Costa Novel Award\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom award-winning writer David Mitchell comes a sinewy, meditative novel of boyhood on the cusp of adulthood and the old on the cusp of the new. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlack Swan Green\u003c\/i\u003e tracks a single year in what is, for thirteen-year-old Jason Taylor, the sleepiest village in muddiest Worcestershire in a dying Cold War England, 1982. But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissingeresque realpolitik\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eenacted in boys' games on a frozen lake; of \"nightcreeping\" through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fueled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigr  who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason's search to replace his dead grandfather's irreplaceable smashed watch before the crime is discovered; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran LPs, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher's recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePointed, funny, profound, left-field, elegiac, and painted with the stuff of life, \u003ci\u003eBlack Swan Green \u003c\/i\u003eis David Mitchell's subtlest and most effective achievement to date. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eBlack Swan Green\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \" David Mitchell has created] one of the most endearing, smart, and funny young narrators ever to rise up from the pages of a novel. . . . The always fresh and brilliant writing will carry readers back to their own childhoods. . . . This enchanting novel makes us remember exactly what it was like.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \" David Mitchell is a] prodigiously daring and imaginative young writer. . . . As in the works of Thomas Pynchon and Herman Melville, one feels the roof of the narrative lifted off and oneself in thrall.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Mitchell\u003c\/b\u003e is the award-winning and bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Bone Clocks, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, Black Swan Green, Cloud Atlas, Number9Dream, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Ghostwritten\u003c\/i\u003e. Twice shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Mitchell was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e in 2007. With KA Yoshida, Mitchell translated from the Japanese the internationally bestselling memoir \u003ci\u003eThe Reason I Jump\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Ireland with his wife and two children.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Random House Trade","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50648910922002,"sku":"9780812974010","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e3734d78-c5b7-460a-a55e-67e512d2c2b0.jpg?v=1733252575","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/black-swan-green-9780812974010","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}