{"product_id":"setting-free-the-bears-9780345417985","title":"Setting Free the Bears","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Truly remarkable . . . encompasses the longings and agonies of youth . . . a complex and moving novel.\"--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eTime\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Astonishing . . . a writer of uncommon imaginative power. Whatever  John Irving] writes, it will be worth reading.\"--\u003ci\u003eSaturday Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is 1967. Two Viennese university students, Siggy and Hannes, roam the Austrian countryside on their motorcycles--on a quest: to liberate the bears of the Vienna Zoo. But their good intentions have both comic and gruesome consequences in this first novel from John Irving, already a master storyteller at twenty-five years old. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Imagine a mixture of Till Eulenspiegel and Ken Kesey . . . and you've got the range of the merry pranksters who hot rod through Mr. Irving's book . . . tossing flowers, stealing salt shakers, and planning the biggest caper of their young lives.\"--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Irving\u003c\/b\u003e has been nominated for a National Book Award three times--winning once, in 1980, for the novel \u003ci\u003eThe World According to Garp\u003c\/i\u003e. In 1992, Mr. Irving was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. In 2000, he won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for \u003ci\u003eThe Cider House Rules\u003c\/i\u003e--a film with seven Academy Award nominations.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Random House Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50902906077458,"sku":"9780345417985","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9670731f-78f8-4ff2-b1ad-0c8440bf8aaa.jpg?v=1738461681","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/setting-free-the-bears-9780345417985","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}