{"product_id":"the-last-samurai-9780811225502","title":"The Last Samurai","description":"\u003cp\u003eHelen DeWitt's 2000 debut, \u003ci\u003eThe Last Samurai\u003c\/i\u003e, was \"destined to become a cult classic\" (Miramax). The enterprising publisher sold the rights in twenty countries, so \"Why not just, 'destined to become a classic?'\" (Garth Risk Hallberg) And why must cultists tell the uninitiated it has nothing to do with Tom Cruise?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSibylla, an American-at-Oxford turned loose on London, finds herself trapped as a single mother after a misguided one-night stand. High-minded principles of child-rearing work disastrously well. J. S. Mill (taught Greek at three) and Yo Yo Ma (Bach at two) claimed the methods would work with any child; when these succeed with the boy Ludo, he causes havoc at school and is home again in a month. (Is he a prodigy, a genius? Readers looking over Ludo's shoulder find themselves easily reading Greek and more.) Lacking male role models for a fatherless boy, Sibylla turns to endless replays of Kurosawa's masterpiece \u003ci\u003eSeven Samurai\u003c\/i\u003e. But Ludo is obsessed with the one thing he wants and doesn't know: his father's name. At eleven, inspired by his own take on the classic film, he sets out on a secret quest for the father he never knew. He'll be punched, sliced, and threatened with retribution. He may not live to see twelve. Or he may find a real samurai and save a mother who thinks boredom a fate worse than death.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e New Directions Publishing Corporation\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/31\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780811225502\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 576\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.10lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.10w x 1.30d","brand":"Helen DeWitt","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36644310483100,"sku":"9780811225502","price":16.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_44b4e1f0-9ce5-4a29-abd4-ca9ac71e3feb.jpg?v=1603858328","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-last-samurai-9780811225502","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}