{"product_id":"calling-for-charlie-barnes-book-joshua-ferris-9780241202869","title":"A Calling for Charlie Barnes","description":"From the Booker-shortlisted author of To Rise Again at a Decent Hour comes a hilarious novel about fathers, sons, thwarted dreams and confronting the reality of who we really are  'This is a fine American novel about family, love, and a decent but flawed man trying to be better. In dark times like these, I can't recommend this book too highly. It's strong' Stephen King on Twitter ___________________________________  Charlie Barnes is a mid-century man devoted to his newspaper and his landline. But Charlie is about to get dragged into our troubled age by his storyteller son, who has a different idea of him than he has of himself. Then there are his other children, his ex-wives, present wife, business clients, friends and acquaintances, all of whom have their competing opinions of Charlie.  He certainly seems simple enough: he's a striver, a romantic, and a thoroughgoing capitalist. But suddenly blindsided by the Great Recession and a dose of bad news, he might have to rethink his life from top to bottom, and on short notice. What makes a man real? What makes him good? And how does the story we tell about ourselves line up with the lives that we actually live? ___________________________________  'Funny, moving, and formally a work of genius, A Calling for Charlie Barnes is quite literally the book Joshua Ferris was born to write' Garth Risk Hallberg, author of City on Fire  'Dazzling. Mind-blowing. About as much fun as you can have without risking arrest' Richard Russo, author of Empire Falls  'Wonderful: fast and deep, urgent and brilliant . . . A hilarious, intimate, and scathing takedown of so many American vanities' Dana Spiotta, author of Stone Arabia","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49559435575569,"sku":"GOR011610634","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":50697962848529,"sku":"NGR9780241202869","price":23.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51405857030417,"sku":"GOR012352316","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51425933295889,"sku":"GOR012276249","price":10.39,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51765199536401,"sku":"GOR012352315","price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0241202868.jpg?v=1751451600","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/calling-for-charlie-barnes-book-joshua-ferris-9780241202869","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}