{"product_id":"my-idea-of-fun-9780802142139","title":"My Idea of Fun","description":"Will Self has established himself as one of the most brilliant, daring, and inventive writers of his generation. \u003ci\u003eMy Idea of Fun\u003c\/i\u003e is Will Self's highly acclaimed first novel. The story of a devilishly clever international financier\/marketing wizard and his young apprentice, \u003ci\u003eMy Idea of Fun\u003c\/i\u003e is both a frighteningly dark subterranean exploration of capitalism run rampant and a wickedly sharp, technically acute display of linguistic pyrotechnics that glows with pure white-hot brilliance. Ian Wharton is a very ordinary young man until he is taken under the wing of a gentleman known variously as Mr. Broadhurst, Samuel Northcliff, and finally and simply the Fat Controller. Loudmouthed, impeccably tailored, and a fount of bombastic erudition, the Fat Controller initiates Ian into the dark secrets of his arts -- of marketing, money, and the human psyche -- and takes Ian, and the reader, on a wild voyage around the edges of reality. As we careen into the twenty-first century, Self perfectly captures the zeitgeist of our times: money is the only common language; consumerism, violence, and psychosis (drug-induced and otherwise) prevail; and the human soul has become the ultimate product.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Grove Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50413065109778,"sku":"9780802142139","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_26e3b348-69b3-46b5-83e9-76c4d1b5976e.jpg?v=1729343800","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/my-idea-of-fun-9780802142139","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}