{"product_id":"happy-death-9780679764007","title":"Happy Death","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe first novel from the Nobel Prize-winning author lays the foundation for \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger, \u003c\/i\u003etelling the story of an Algerian clerk who kills a man in cold blood. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eA Happy Death\u003c\/i\u003e, written when Albert Camus was in his early twenties and retrieved from his private papers following his death in 1960, revealed himself to an extent that he never would in his later fiction. For if \u003ci\u003eA Happy Death \u003c\/i\u003eis the study of a rule-bound being shattering the fetters of his existence, it is also a remarkably candid portrait of its author as a young man. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs the novel follows the protagonist, Patrice Mersault, to his victim's house -- and then, fleeing, in a journey that takes him through stages of exile, hedonism, privation, and death -it gives us a glimpse into the imagination of one of the great writers of the twentieth century. For here is the young Camus himself, in love with the sea and sun, enraptured by women yet disdainful of romantic love, and already formulating the philosophy of action and moral responsibility that would make him central to the thought of our time. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTranslated from the French by Richard Howard\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBorn in Algeria in 1913, \u003cb\u003eAlbert Camus\u003c\/b\u003e published \u003ci\u003eThe Stranger\u003c\/i\u003e--now one of the most widely read novels of this century--in 1942. Celebrated in intellectual circles, Camus was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. On January 4, 1960, he was killed in a car accident.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Vintage","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50590909792530,"sku":"9780679764007","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_fb33f9ff-34d7-4543-b518-57603a5c9d1f.jpg?v=1732083857","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/happy-death-9780679764007","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}