{"product_id":"dangerous-laughter-thirteen-stories-9780307387479","title":"Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of \u003ci\u003eMartin Dressler\u003c\/i\u003e--hailed by \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e as \"a virtuoso of waking dreams\"--comes a dazzling collection of darkly comic stories united by their obsession with obsession. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Remarkable ... Not just brilliant but prescient.\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eDangerous Laughter\u003c\/i\u003e, Steven Millhauser transports us to unknown universes that uncannily resemble our own. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe collection is divided into three parts that fit seamlessly together as a whole. It opens with a bang, as \"Cat 'n' Mouse\" reimagines the deadly ritual between cartoon rivals in a comedy of dynamite and anvils--a masterly prologue that sets the stage for the alluring, very grown-up twists that follow. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePart one, \"Vanishing Acts,\" features stories of risk and escape: a lonely woman disappears without a trace; a high school boy becomes entangled with his best friend's troubled sister; and a group of teenagers play a treacherous game that pushes them deep into \"the kingdom of forbidden things.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eExcess reigns in the vivid, haunting places of Part two's \"Impossible Architectures,\" where domes enclose whole cities, and a king's master miniaturist creates objects so tiny that soon his entire world is invisible. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFinally, \"Heretical Histories\" presents startling alternatives to the remembered past. \"A Precursor of the Cinema\" proposes a new, enigmatic form of illusion. And in the astonishing \"The Wizard of West Orange\" a famous inventor sets out to simulate the sense of touch--but success brings disturbing consequences. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSensual, mysterious, \u003ci\u003eDangerous Laughter\u003c\/i\u003e is a mesmerizing journey through brilliantly realized labyrinths of mortal pleasures that stretch the boundaries of the ordinary world to their limits--and occasionally beyond.\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 02\/10\/2009\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780307387479\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.20w x 0.73d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/08\/2009 pg. 20\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Steven Millhauser","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43180564086965,"sku":"9780307387479","price":17.85,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_e906ddfc-8f36-460a-a8e1-3e2b98524d29.jpg?v=1697515953","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/dangerous-laughter-thirteen-stories-9780307387479","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}