{"product_id":"killing-the-second-dog-9781939931115","title":"Killing the Second Dog","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Hlasko's story comes off the page at you like a pit bull.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"His writing is taut and psychologically nuanced like that of the great dime-store novelist Georges Simenon, his novelistic world as profane as Isaac Babel's.\"--\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Spokesman for those who were angry and beat . . . turbulent, temperamental, and tortured.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A must-read . . . piercing and compelling.\"--\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A self-taught writer with an uncanny gift for narrative and dialogue.\"--Roman Polanski\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \"Marek Hlasko ... lived through what he wrote and died of an overdose of solitude and not enough love.\"-- Jerzy Kosinski, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Painted Bird\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBeing There\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A glittering black comedy ... that is equally entertaining and wrenching.\"\u003cbr\u003e-- \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The idol of Poland's young generation in 1956.\"\u003cbr\u003e-- Czeslaw Milosz, 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRobert and Jacob are down-and-out Polish con men living in Israel in the 1960s. They're planning to run a scam on an American widow visiting the country. Robert, who masterminds the scheme, and Jacob, who acts it out, are tough, desperate men, adrift in the nasty underworld of Tel Aviv. Robert arranges for Jacob to run into the woman, whose heart is open; the men are hoping her wallet is too. What follows is a story of love, deception, cruelty, and shame, as Jacob pretends to fall in love with her. It's not just Jacob who's performing a role; nearly all the characters are actors in an ugly story, complete with parts for murder and suicide. Marek Hlasko's writing combines brutal realism with smoky, hardboiled dialogue in a bleak world where violence is the norm and love is often only an act.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMarek Hlasko\u003c\/b\u003e, known as the James Dean of Eastern Europe, was exiled from Communist Poland and spent his life wandering the globe. He died in 1969 of an overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills in Wiesbaden, Germany.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New Vessel Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/02\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781939931115\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 138\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.20w x 0.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2014 pg. 21\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Marek Hlasko","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36671451037852,"sku":"9781939931115","price":13.59,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_91460892-c4e7-4963-9c53-d9e0e7e106e2.jpg?v=1603925424","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/killing-the-second-dog-9781939931115","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}