{"product_id":"hard-times-9780307947208","title":"Hard Times","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe shortest of Charles Dickens's novels, \u003ci\u003eHard Times \u003c\/i\u003eis also his most pointed and impassioned satire of social injustice. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSet in Coketown, a fictional industrial town in the north of England, \u003ci\u003eHard Times\u003c\/i\u003e was born of its author's indignation at the soul-crushing conditions of the industrial age, and yet it vibrantly transcends the stock situations and polemical weaknesses typical of social protest fiction of the time. The indelible characters--Mr. Gradgrind, whose utilitarian educational philosophy emotionally cripples his own children; the hypocritical factory owner Josiah Bounderby; Stephen Blackpool, an honest worker wrongly accused of a crime; and Sissy Jupe, a circus performer whose father abandons her to what he hopes is a better life--all come alive in classic Dickensian fashion, and contribute to a satiric vision of society tempered equally by righteous anger and compassionate humanity.\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 01\/10\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780307947208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.65lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAccelerated Reader Quiz #\/Name: \u003c\/b\u003e50672 \/ Hard Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.3 \/ \u003cb\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/b\u003e Upper Grade \/ \u003cb\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/b\u003e 20\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Charles Dickens","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42935357866165,"sku":"9780307947208","price":8.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_90052356-d43d-4219-836b-0d1c1e595308.jpg?v=1688487822","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/hard-times-9780307947208","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}