{"product_id":"books-mania-by-lionel-shriver","title":"Mania","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Seldom is a book as funny, important and timely … I was laughing out loud at the same time as my blood was running cold' JOHN CLEESE \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Viciously funny… an exhilarating satire’ \u003cem\u003eTHE TIMES\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e'Merciless… a welcome distraction' \u003cem\u003eECONOMIST\u003c\/em\u003e, Best Books of 2024\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat if calling someone stupid was illegal?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a reality not too distant from our own, where the so-called Mental Parity Movement has taken hold, the worst thing you can call someone is 'stupid'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEveryone is equally clever, and discrimination based on intelligence is 'the last great civil rights fight'.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExams and grades are all discarded, and smart phones are rebranded. Children are expelled for saying the S-word and encouraged to report parents for using it. You don't need a qualification to be a doctor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBest friends since adolescence, Pearson and Emory find themselves on opposing sides of this new culture war. Radio personality Emory – who has built her career riding the tide of popular thought – makes increasingly hard-line statements while, for her part, Pearson believes the whole thing is ludicrous.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs their friendship fractures, Pearson's determination to cling onto the 'old, bigoted way of thinking' begins to endanger her job, her safety and even her family.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLionel Shriver turns her piercing gaze on the policing of opinion and intellect, and imagines a world in which intellectual meritocracy is heresy. Hilarious, deadpan, scathing and at times frighteningly plausible, MANIA will delight the many fans of her fiction and journalism alike.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"World of Books ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53767861076241,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9780008658670.jpg?v=1783939800","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/books-mania-by-lionel-shriver","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}