{"product_id":"9780062940094","title":"Fabulous : Stories","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eFabulous\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Lucy Hughes-Hallett\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom the author of the “sophisticated and erudite” \u003cem\u003ePeculiar Ground\u003c\/em\u003e (Boston Globe) comes a collection of classic, witty fables, elegantly updated for our modern times.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt's in the nature of myth to be infinitely adaptable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach of these startlingly original stories is set in modern Britain. Their characters include a people-trafficking gang-master and a prostitute, a migrant worker and a cocksure estate agent, an elderly musician doubly befuddled by dementia and the death of his wife, a pest-controller suspected of paedophilia and a librarian so well-behaved that her parents wonder anxiously whether she’ll ever find love.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThey’re ordinary people, preoccupied, as we all are now, by the deficiencies of the health service, by criminal gangs and homelessness, by the pitfalls of dating in the age of #metoo. All of their stories, though, are inspired by ones drawn from Graeco-Roman myth, from the Bible or from folk-lore.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe ancients invented myths to express what they didn’t understand. These witty fables, elegantly written and full of sharp-eyed observation of modern life, are also visionary explorations of potent mysteries and strange passions, charged with the hallucinatory beauty and horror of their originals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e“Clever…Hallett forges novel situations for her quirky characters, and each retelling works well as a modern story in its own right.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780062940094\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":41122543534286,"sku":"9780062940094","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/9780062940094.jpg?v=1650085203","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780062940094","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}