{"product_id":"the-tap-dancer-9780008619176","title":"The Tap Dancer","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003e'My favourite novel and one I wish I'd written.' ALAN BENNETT\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eWinner of the McKitterick Prize for best first novel by an author aged over 40, and the Hawthornden Prize for imaginative literature.\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEveryone craves retirement from the Civil Service, don't they? That time for an ageing patriarch to enjoy the fruits of a well-earned pension and the respect of his family; maybe even to indulge in a love of music halls and metropolitan life. If only people would listen and do as they were told...\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis fourth son William, the long-suffering narrator, is the constant butt of his father's jokes and victim of his brothers' indifference. But as death, divorce and other darker dramas follow, father and son slowly establish a strange harmony.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eAndrew Barrow (b.1945) is a writer and journalist, a regularly contributor to the pages of the \u003cem\u003eIndependent\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eDaily Telegraph\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eSpectator\u003c\/em\u003e. He is the author of two novels, \u003cem\u003eThe Tap Dancer\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Man in the Moon\u003c\/em\u003e, and the double biography, \u003cem\u003eQuentin and Philip\u003c\/em\u003e, published by Picador. He lives in London.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50522097811730,"sku":"9780008619176","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_66771a91-8c75-4972-9e91-7391e5d7c9fc.jpg?v=1731113624","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-tap-dancer-9780008619176","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}