{"product_id":"an-odyssey-a-father-a-son-and-an-epic-9780345806215","title":"An Odyssey: A Father, a Son, and an Epic","description":"\u003cb\u003eNamed a Best Book of 2017 by NPR, \u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e Best Memoir of 2017\u003cbr\u003eShortlisted for the 2017 Baillie Gifford Prize \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom award-winning memoirist and critic, and bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Lost: \u003c\/i\u003e a deeply moving tale of a father and son's transformative journey in reading--and reliving--Homer's epic masterpiece. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e seminar his son teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an adventure as profoundly emotional as it is intellectual. For Jay, a retired research scientist who sees the world through a mathematician's unforgiving eyes, this return to the classroom is his \"one last chance\" to learn the great literature he'd neglected in his youth--and, even more, a final opportunity to more fully understand his son, a writer and classicist. But through the sometimes uncomfortable months that the two men explore Homer's great work together--first in the classroom, where Jay persistently challenges his son's interpretations, and then during a surprise-filled Mediterranean journey retracing Odysseus's famous voyages--it becomes clear that Daniel has much to learn, too: Jay's responses to both the text and the travels gradually uncover long-buried secrets that allow the son to understand his difficult father at last. As this intricately woven memoir builds to its wrenching climax, Mendelsohn's narrative comes to echo the \u003ci\u003eOdyssey\u003c\/i\u003e itself, with its timeless themes of deception and recognition, marriage and children, the pleasures of travel and the meaning of home. Rich with literary and emotional insight, \u003ci\u003eAn Odyssey \u003c\/i\u003eis a renowned author-scholar's most triumphant entwining yet of personal narrative and literary exploration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Vintage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/31\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780345806215\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.80d","brand":"Daniel Mendelsohn","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36636465561756,"sku":"9780345806215","price":15.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_1846b649-b90e-4e35-94ba-44d6974a2173.jpg?v=1603842039","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/an-odyssey-a-father-a-son-and-an-epic-9780345806215","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}