{"product_id":"the-possessed-9780802162526","title":"The Possessed","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom \"a master of verbal burlesque [and] a connoisseur of psychological blackmail\" (John Updike), Witold Gombrowicz's harrowing and hilarious pastiche of the Gothic novel, now in a new, authoritative English translation \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWitold Gombrowicz is considered by many to be Poland's greatest modernist, and in \u003ci\u003eThe Possessed\u003c\/i\u003e, he demonstrates his playful brilliance and astonishing range by using the familiar tropes of the Gothic novel to produce a darkly funny and lively subversion of the form. With dreams of escaping his small-town existence and the limitations of his class, a young tennis coach travels to the heart of the Polish countryside to train Maja Ocholowska, a beautiful and promising player whose bourgeois family has fallen upon difficult circumstances. Yet as Maja and the young man are alternately drawn to and repulsed by the other, they find themselves embroiled in the fantastic happenings taking place at the dilapidated castle nearby, where a mad prince haunts the halls, and bewitched towels, conniving secretaries, famous clairvoyants, and uncanny doubles conspire to determine the fate of the lovers. Serialized first in Poland in the days preceding the Nazi invasion, and now translated directly into English for the first time by Antonia Lloyd-Jones, \u003ci\u003eThe Possessed\u003c\/i\u003e is a comic jewel, a hair-raising thriller, and a provocative early masterpiece from the acclaimed author of classics like \u003ci\u003ePornografia \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eCosmos\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWitold Gombrowicz\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e(1904-1969) is one of the twentieth century's most important modernists and\u003cbr\u003eenduring avant-garde writers. His first novel, \u003ci\u003eFerdydurke\u003c\/i\u003e, was published\u003cbr\u003ein Poland in 1937, and he lived in exile in Argentina from the beginning of\u003cbr\u003eWorld War II to 1963. Among many literary works, he is the author of his\u003cbr\u003ethree-volume \u003ci\u003eDiaries\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as the novels \u003ci\u003eTrans-Atlantyk\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePornografia\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003cbr\u003eand \u003ci\u003eCosmos\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the 1967 International Prize for Literature. \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Grove Press, Black Cat","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50606514045202,"sku":"9780802162526","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_054223bf-e2b2-4709-baeb-a56e85da4d94.jpg?v=1732295325","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-possessed-9780802162526","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}