{"product_id":"desperate-characters-9780393351101","title":"Desperate Characters","description":"\u003cp\u003eOtto and Sophie Bentwood live in a changing neighborhood in Brooklyn. Their stainless-steel kitchen is newly installed, and their Mercedes is parked curbside. After Sophie is bitten on the hand while trying to feed a stray, perhaps rabies-infected cat, a series of small and ominous disasters begin to plague the Bentwoods' lives, revealing the fault lines and fractures in a marriage--and a society--wrenching itself apart.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1970 to wide acclaim, \u003cem\u003eDesperate Characters\u003c\/em\u003e stands as one of the most dazzling and rigorous examples of the storyteller's craft in postwar American literature -- a novel that, according to Irving Howe, ranks with \"\u003cem\u003eBilly Budd, The Great Gatsby, Miss Lonelyhearts\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eSeize the Day\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFox, Paula:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003ePaula Fox\u003c\/strong\u003e (1923--2017) was the author of \u003cem\u003eDesperate Characters\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Widow's Children\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eA Servant's Tale\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe God of Nightmares\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003ePoor George\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Western Coast\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eBorrowed Finery: A Memoir\u003c\/em\u003e, among other books.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50604146327826,"sku":"9780393351101","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_46134840-edb5-4bc9-8723-ddb2c0725155.jpg?v=1732255662","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/desperate-characters-9780393351101","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}