{"product_id":"meeks-9781931520652","title":"Meeks","description":"\u003cp\u003eNo woman will have Ben without a proper bachelor's suit . . . and the tailor refuses to make him one. Back from war with a nameless enemy, Ben finds that his mother is dead and his family home has been reassigned by the state. As if that isn't enough, he must now find a wife, or he'll be made a civil servant and given a permanent spot in one of the city's oppressive factories.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeanwhile, Meeks, a foreigner who lives in the park and imagines he's a member of the police, is hunted by the overzealous Brothers of Mercy. Meeks' survival depends on his peculiar friendship with a police captain--but will that be enough to prevent his execution at the annual Independence Day celebration?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA dark satire rendered with the slapstick humor of a Buster Keaton film, Julia Holmes' debut marries the existentialism of Fyodor Dostoevsky's \u003ci\u003eNotes from Underground\u003c\/i\u003e to the strange charm of a Haruki Murakami novel. \u003ci\u003eMeeks\u003c\/i\u003e portrays a world at once hilarious and disquieting, in which frustrated revolutionaries and hopeful youths suffer alongside the lost and the condemned, just for a chance at the permanent bliss of marriage and a slice of sugar-frosted Independence Day cake.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJulia Holmes\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and grew up in the Middle East, Texas, and New York, where she is currently an assistant editor at \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e. She is a graduate of Columbia University's MFA program in fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Small Beer Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/01\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781931520652\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 192\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.56lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.44h x 6.12w x 0.52d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/03\/2010 pg. 32\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/29\/2010 pg. 26\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/05\/2010 pg. 22\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Julia Holmes","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51230729896117,"sku":"9781931520652","price":13.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_1b0f1f6f-8c26-4d1c-bc7f-d976075cc788.jpg?v=1750169948","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/meeks-9781931520652","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}