{"product_id":"degas-at-the-gas-station-essays-9781478033035","title":"Degas at the Gas Station: Essays","description":"In his latest collection, Thomas Beller trains his piercing literary eye on how a single, seismic event indelibly shapes the trajectory of the common and mundane experiences of one's life. Weaving together a charming set of autobiographical stories, Beller interrogates the randomness and contingencies that separate sadness from joy, death from life. His father escaped the Nazis, only to die in America from cancer when Beller was nine years old. Beller measures how this loss impacted his life as the father of two young children and became both a catalyst for understanding an ever-present sorrow. At the same time, ordinary moments--from retrieving an iPod from the subway tracks to encountering the police at a Kinks concert to observing his young tutued ballerina daughter at a gas station--lead to instances of penetrating insight, self-deprecation, and humor. \u003ci\u003eDegas at the Gas Station\u003c\/i\u003e presents an endearing and bracingly honest portrait of the author as an ever-curious observer of the mysteries and profundities of everyday life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThomas Beller is a long time contributor to the \u003ci\u003eNew Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e and the author of several books including \u003ci\u003eLost in the Game: A Book about Basketball, \u003c\/i\u003ealso published by Duke University Press;\u003ci\u003e J.D. Salinger: The Escape Artist; and The Sleep-Over Artist. \u003c\/i\u003eA 2024-25 Guggenheim fellow, he is a founding editor of \u003ci\u003eOpen City Magazine \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eand\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e Books \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Mrbellersneighborhood.com, \u003c\/i\u003eand Professor and Director of creative writing at Tulane University.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Duke University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51690758144274,"sku":"9781478033035","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_0418c041-e347-49a9-bbb4-924fcf253aaa.jpg?v=1766486615","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/degas-at-the-gas-station-essays-9781478033035","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}