{"product_id":"my-idea-of-fun-9780802142139","title":"My Idea of Fun","description":"Will Self has established himself as one of the most brilliant, daring, and inventive writers of his generation. \u003ci\u003eMy Idea of Fun\u003c\/i\u003e is Will Self's highly acclaimed first novel. The story of a devilishly clever international financier\/marketing wizard and his young apprentice, \u003ci\u003eMy Idea of Fun\u003c\/i\u003e is both a frighteningly dark subterranean exploration of capitalism run rampant and a wickedly sharp, technically acute display of linguistic pyrotechnics that glows with pure white-hot brilliance. Ian Wharton is a very ordinary young man until he is taken under the wing of a gentleman known variously as Mr. Broadhurst, Samuel Northcliff, and finally and simply the Fat Controller. Loudmouthed, impeccably tailored, and a fount of bombastic erudition, the Fat Controller initiates Ian into the dark secrets of his arts -- of marketing, money, and the human psyche -- and takes Ian, and the reader, on a wild voyage around the edges of reality. As we careen into the twenty-first century, Self perfectly captures the zeitgeist of our times: money is the only common language; consumerism, violence, and psychosis (drug-induced and otherwise) prevail; and the human soul has become the ultimate product.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Grove Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/28\/2005\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780802142139\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.38h x 5.44w x 0.83d","brand":"Will Self","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41574694781109,"sku":"9780802142139","price":11.9,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_8dee5daa-6a23-4c76-9b1d-e0c65ad9bfac.jpg?v=1643697931","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/my-idea-of-fun-9780802142139","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}