{"product_id":"kick-the-latch-9780811232005","title":"Kick the Latch","description":"Kathryn Scanlan's \u003cem\u003eKick the Latch\u003c\/em\u003e vividly captures the arc of one woman's life at the racetrack--the flat land and ramshackle backstretch; the bad feelings and friction; the winner's circle and the racetrack bar; the fancy suits and fancy boots; and the \"particular language\" of \"grooms, jockeys, trainers, racing secretaries, stewards, pony people, hotwalkers, everybody\"--with economy and integrity. \u003cp\u003eBased on transcribed interviews with Sonia, a horse trainer, the novel investigates form and authenticity in a feat of synthesis reminiscent of Charles Reznikoff's \u003cem\u003eTestimony\u003c\/em\u003e. As Scanlan puts it, \"I wanted to preserve--amplify, exaggerate--Sonia's idiosyncratic speech, her bluntness, her flair as a storyteller. I arrived at what you could call a composite portrait of a self.\" Whittled down with a fiercely singular artistry, \u003cem\u003eKick the Latch\u003c\/em\u003e bangs out of the starting gate and carries the reader on a careening joyride around the inside track.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"New Directions Publishing Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50604406538514,"sku":"9780811232005","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9a43a96e-7aba-46fa-9a39-75ce3ff5c1d4.jpg?v=1732259661","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/kick-the-latch-9780811232005","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}