{"product_id":"the-bridge-of-san-luis-rey-9780063114852","title":"The Bridge of San Luis Rey","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe authorized, original edition of Thornton Wilder's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic with a foreword by acclaimed author Russell Banks and an afterword by Wilder's nephew, Tappan Wilder, with illuminating documentary material about the novel and its rich literary history.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"As close to perfect a moral fable as we are ever likely to get in American literature.\" --Russell Banks\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"There are books that haunt you down the years, books that seem to touch and stir something deep inside you. . . . Wilder's \u003cem\u003eThe Bridge of San Luis Rey \u003c\/em\u003eis of this kind.\" \u003cem\u003e--The Independent \u003c\/em\u003e(London)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"On Friday noon, July the twentieth, 1714, the finest bridge in all Peru broke and precipitated five travelers into the gulf below.\" This immortal sentence opens \u003cem\u003eThe Bridge of San Luis Rey\u003c\/em\u003e, one of the towering achievements in American literature, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and a novel still read throughout the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBrother Juniper, a Franciscan monk, witnesses the tragic event. Deeply moved, he embarks on a quest to prove that it was divine intervention, not chance, that led to the deaths of the five people crossing the bridge that day. Ultimately, his search leads to a timeless investigation into the nature of fate and love, and the meaning of the human condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWilder, Thornton:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eTHORNTON WILDER (1897-1975) is the only writer to win Pulitzer Prizes for both drama (\u003cem\u003eOur Town \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eThe Skin of Our Teeth\u003c\/em\u003e) and fiction (\u003cem\u003eThe Bridge of San Luis Rey\u003c\/em\u003e). He collaborated with Alfred Hitchcock on \u003cem\u003eShadow of a Doubt\u003c\/em\u003e, hiked the Alps with the heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney, received a Bronze Star for his service in World War II, and was credited with discovering Orson Welles. He was also a much-loved teacher, letter-writer (especially with Gertrude Stein), and public speaker--in four languages. \u003cem\u003eHello, Dolly!\u003c\/em\u003e is based on his play \u003cem\u003eThe Matchmaker.\u003c\/em\u003e Learn more about his extraordinary life and work at thorntonwilder.com.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50620274770194,"sku":"9780063114852","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_e56df80b-9db4-4cf3-afd2-165089f15e76.jpg?v=1756797520","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-bridge-of-san-luis-rey-9780063114852","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}