{"product_id":"mefisto-9781567928471","title":"Mefisto","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A novel of virtuosic scope.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA Faustian fever dream of numbers, knowledge, and the darkness that lurks beyond comprehension. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGabriel Swan is a math prodigy obsessed with the idea of order. He sees the world not in words, but in numbers. Compelled to find the elusive code behind life itself, he plunges into a search for absolute meaning. But when he meets Felix--a charismatic, otherworldly stranger who seems to hold the answers--Gabriel's journey takes a darker turn. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe becomes involved with a mesmerizing trio formed by sad, obese Mr. Kasperl, who is like someone \"from a country where no one else lived\"; lovely, mute Sophie; and the Mephistophelian Felix, whose appearances always foretoken disaster. In an abandoned mansion, their changing relations, and Gabriel's quest for a \"formula that will reduce the disorder of common things\u003cbr\u003eto an equation,\" slowly and inevitably land him in his own private season in Hell. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eInspired by the legend of Faust, \u003ci\u003eMefisto\u003c\/i\u003e is a dazzling, philosophical novel about genius, obsession, and the limits of rationality. With his trademark prose--elegant, luminous, and hypnotic--Banville transforms myth into a haunting study of human fragility and the borders of reality.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Banville\u003c\/b\u003e is the internationally celebrated author of many novels including \u003ci\u003eThe Sea\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eApril in Spain\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Drowned\u003c\/i\u003e. He has been the recipient of the Man Booker Prize, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Guardian Fiction Award, the Franz Kafka Prize, a Lannan Literary Award for Fiction, and the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature. He lives in Dublin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"David R. Godine Publisher","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52078237450514,"sku":"9781567928471","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_84189bdf-2e7a-4832-9924-4311fc61d191.jpg?v=1772537670","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/mefisto-9781567928471","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}