{"product_id":"lightning-rods-9780811220347","title":"Lightning Rods","description":"Described as \"the most well-executed literary sex comedy\" of our time by \u003cem\u003eSalon.com\u003c\/em\u003e, and \"a wickedly smart satire that deserves to be a classic\" by \u003cem\u003eBookforum\u003c\/em\u003e, Helen DeWitt's \u003cem\u003eLighting Rods\u003c\/em\u003e is a novel that will leave you laughing for more. Follow one steady rise to power in corporate America as down-and-out salesman Joe curtails sexual harassment in the office and increases productivity with his mysterious, mind-blowing invention.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDeWitt, Helen:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eHelen DeWitt\u003c\/strong\u003e was born in a suburb of Washington, DC. Daughter of American diplomats, she grew up mainly in Latin America, living in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. She went to Oxford to study classics for a BA and D.Phil. She left academia to try to write a novel, moving eventually to London and acquiring UK citizenship. She had some 100 fragments of novels when she began work in 1995 on the novel that was published as \u003cem\u003eThe Last Samurai\u003c\/em\u003e in 2000. The book caused a sensation at the Frankfurt Bookfair 1999, going on to be translated in 20 languages (DeWitt reads some 15 languages to various degrees of fluency). On the reissue of \u003cem\u003eThe Last Samurai\u003c\/em\u003e by New Directions in 2016 it was hailed by \u003cem\u003eVulture Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e as The Best Book of the Century. She is also the author of \u003cem\u003eLightning Rods\u003c\/em\u003e, a Mel Brooksian satire on sexual harassment, and \u003cem\u003eSome Trick\u003c\/em\u003e, a collection of stories. She has been based in Berlin since 2004, but also spends time at a cottage in the woods of Vermont improving her chainsaw skills. \u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"New Directions Publishing Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50616698503442,"sku":"9780811220347","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_11c94912-9add-4605-95b3-2d2e2067186a.jpg?v=1732509155","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/lightning-rods-9780811220347","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}