{"product_id":"lesser-ruins-paperback","title":"Lesser Ruins - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMark Haber\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the author of \u003ci\u003eReinhardt's Garden\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSaint Sebastian's Abyss\u003c\/i\u003e comes a breathless new novel of delirious obsession. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBereft after the death of his ailing wife, a retired professor has resumed his life's work--a book that will stand as a towering cathedral to Michel de Montaigne, reframing the inventor of the essay for the modern age. The challenge is the litany of intrusions that bar his way--from memories of his past to the nattering of smartphones to his son's relentless desire to make an electronic dance album. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs he sifts through the contents of his desk, his thoughts pulsing and receding in a haze of caffeine, ghosts and grievances spill out across the page. From the community college where he toiled in vain to an artists' colony in the Berkshires, from the endless pleasures of coffee to the finer points of Holocaust art, the professor's memories churn with sculptors, poets, painters, and inventors, all obsessed with escaping both mediocrity and themselves. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLaced with humor as acrid as it is absurd, \u003ci\u003eLesser Ruins\u003c\/i\u003e is a spiraling meditation on ambition, grief, and humanity's ecstatic, agonizing search for meaning through art.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMark Haber was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Florida. His debut novel, \u003ci\u003eReinhardt's Garden\u003c\/i\u003e (2019, Coffee House Press), was longlisted for the PEN\/Hemingway Award. His second novel, \u003ci\u003eSaint Sebastian's Abyss\u003c\/i\u003e (2022, Coffee House Press), was named a best book of 2022 by the New York Public Library, \u003ci\u003eLiterary Hub\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e. Mark's fiction has appeared in \u003ci\u003eGuernica\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSouthwest Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eAir\/Light\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. Mark lives in Minneapolis.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 296\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 7.7 x 4.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 08, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47457119174834,"sku":"9781566897198","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/d7778bf0237c67194a78f6e668653d35.webp?v=1778876728","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/lesser-ruins-paperback","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}