{"product_id":"i-am-the-light-of-this-world-9781643755359","title":"I Am the Light of This World","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe searing and unforgettable story of one decision that irrevocably changes the course of a young man's life.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the early 1970s, in Stovall, Texas, seventeen-year-old Earl--a loner, a dreamer, a lover of music and words--meets and is quickly infatuated with Tina, the new girl in town. She convinces Earl to drive her to see her mother in Austin, where, after a hazy night of partying, Earl and Tina are separated. Two days later, Earl is being questioned by the police about Tina's disappearance and the blood in the trunk of his car. But Earl can't remember what happened in Austin, and with little support from his working-class family, he is sentenced for a crime he did not commit. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Forty years later, Earl is released into an America so changed he can barely navigate it. Determined to have the life that was taken from him, he settles in a small town on the Oregon coast and works to overcome the emotional toll of incarceration. But just as Earl finds a chance to begin again, his past returns to endanger the new life he's built. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Steeped in the music and atmosphere of the 1970s, \u003ci\u003eI Am the Light of This World\u003c\/i\u003e is a gritty, gripping, and gorgeously written story of the impulsive choices of youth, redemption, mercy, and the power of the imagination.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe author of seven novels and three collections of stories, \u003cb\u003eMichael Parker\u003c\/b\u003e has been awarded four career-achievement awards: the Hobson Award for Arts and Letters, the North Carolina Award for Literature, the R. Hunt Parker Award, and the 2020 Thomas Wolfe Prize. His short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post, the New York Times, Oxford American, Runner's World, Men's Journal, \u003c\/i\u003e and others. He is a three-time winner of the O. Henry Prize for his short fiction and his work has appeared in dozens of magazines and several anthologies. He taught for twenty-seven years in the MFA Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and since 2009 he has been on the faculty of the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. He lives in Austin, Texas.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Algonquin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50653981704466,"sku":"9781643755359","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_81d31171-3fb1-4990-a4ba-0cd667dcd955.jpg?v=1737247134","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/i-am-the-light-of-this-world-9781643755359","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}