{"product_id":"marvel-and-a-wonder-book-joe-meno-9781617753930","title":"Marvel and a Wonder","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Society of Midland Authors Award for the Region's Best Books of 2015 (Adult Fiction)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eNamed a \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e Editors' Choice for 2015\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eLonglisted for the American Library Association's 2016 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCompelling and necessary.... Meno] has a knack for giving small happenings emotional weight....Meno knows how to make you love his characters, want what they want. But don't think he's going to let things turn out well for them. Marvels and wonders aren't worth the trouble. Fortunately, this book is.\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A] rugged page-turner....There's a bit of the country noir of Daniel Woodrell's \u003ci\u003eWinter's Bone\u003c\/i\u003e in the stark atmosphere Mr. Meno evokes (\u003ci\u003eA faded town, fading, harried with dusty light, midafternoon\u003c\/i\u003e), and a bit of the Clint Eastwood movie \u003ci\u003eGran Torino\u003c\/i\u003e in the story of the vigilante grandfather. But the writing is propulsive enough to make you forget its influences. And at moments the book's consuming darkness is lifted by potent, if inscrutable visions of the talismanic horse--\u003ci\u003ea flash of lightning curving along the horizon\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut in two new books--a big novel, \u003ci\u003eMarvel and a Wonder\u003c\/i\u003e, and the anthology \u003ci\u003eChicago Noir: The Classics\u003c\/i\u003e, published simultaneously in early September by Akashic in hardcover and paperback--we're reminded that Meno has a dark side that on occasion he lets out of jail, allowing it to cast a long and menacing shadow.\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEvoking William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy, Meno's suspenseful, mordantly incisive, many-layered tale can also be read as an equine \u003ci\u003eMoby-Dick\u003c\/i\u003e. As he tracks the bewildering seismic shifts under way in America, Meno celebrates everyday marvels, including the hard-proven love between grandfather and grandson.\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, Starred review \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this high-stakes, mordantly incisive, compassionate drama, Quentin, a mixed-race teen, is spending the summer with Jim, his white grandfather, when a magnificent white racehorse is inexplicably delivered to Jim's Indiana farm.\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, Editors' Choice \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTalented Meno has penned a wise and touching novel of love, loyalty, courage; an extraordinary book not to be missed.\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, Starred review \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eMarvel and a Wonder\u003c\/i\u003e . . .  is] a great contemporary Western that's deliciously dark and full of unpleasant characters. I loved it, for whatever grim reason that lurks in my soul (and it's got a fantastic cover), though I'd say it's probably not for the faint of heart.\u003cbr\u003e--\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e,What We\/re Reading Section \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eMarvel and a Wonder\u003c\/i\u003e is a darkly mesmerizing epic and literary page-turner set at the end of the twentieth century. In summer 1995, Jim Falls, a Korean War vet, struggles to raise his sixteen-year-old grandson, Quentin, on a farm in southern Indiana. In July, they receive a mysterious gift--a beautiful quarter horse--which upends the balance of their difficult lives. The horse's appearance catches the attention of a pair of troubled, meth-dealing brothers and, after a violent altercation, the horse is stolen and sold. Grandfather and grandson must travel the landscape of the bleak heartland to reclaim the animal and to confront the ruthless party that has taken possession of it. Along the way, both will be forced to face the misperceptions and tragedies of their past. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEvoking the writing of William Faulkner and Denis Johnson, this brilliant, deeply moving work explores the harrowing, often beautiful marvels of a nation challenged by its own beliefs. Ambitious, expansive, and laden with suspense, \u003ci\u003eMarvel and a Wonder\u003c\/i\u003e presents an unforgettable pair of protagonists at the beginning of one America and the end of another.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50394949353745,"sku":"CIN1617753939G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":52107064017169,"sku":"CIN1617753939A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1617753939.jpg?v=1750799364","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-au\/products\/marvel-and-a-wonder-book-joe-meno-9781617753930","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}