{"product_id":"the-confidence-man-his-masquerade-9780486817514","title":"The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade","description":"On April Fool's Day in 1856, a shape-shifting grifter boards a Mississippi riverboat to expose the pretenses, hypocrisies, and self-delusions of his fellow passengers. The con artist assumes numerous identities -- a disabled beggar, a charity fundraiser, a successful businessman, an urbane gentleman -- to win over his not-entirely-innocent dupes. The central character's shifting identities, as fluid as the river itself, reflect broader aspects of human identity even as his impudent hoaxes form a meditation on illusion and trust. \u003cbr\u003eThis comic allegory addresses themes of sincerity, character, and morality in its challenge to the optimism and materialism of mid-19th-century America. By the time of its publication, readers had pigeonholed Herman Melville as a writer of adventure yarns. The novel was completely misunderstood by the author's contemporaries, and its financial failure drove him away from fiction. With the passage of time, however, \u003ci\u003eThe Confidence-Man \u003c\/i\u003ehas come to be recognized for its stunningly modern techniques and its indictment of the dark side of the American dream.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Dover Publications\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/15\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780486817514\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.70d","brand":"Herman Melville","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36637943234716,"sku":"9780486817514","price":13.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_e21a9a1c-3146-4668-be90-ba7bd815a1fe.jpg?v=1603846060","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-confidence-man-his-masquerade-9780486817514","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}