{"product_id":"the-perfect-man-9780812977011","title":"The Perfect Man","description":"Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Europe and South Asia.\u003cbr\u003eWinner of the 2008 PEN Beyond Margins Award. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIdentity, friendship, and a long-hidden crime lie at the heart of Naeem Murr's captivating novel about five friends growing up in a small 1950s Missouri river town. A contender for the Man Booker Prize, this exhilarating story beautifully evokes the extreme joys, as well as the dark and shameful desires, of childhood. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYoung Rajiv Travers hasn't had much luck fitting in anywhere. Born to an Indian mother who was sold to his English father for  20, Raj is abandoned by his relatives into the reluctant care of Ruth, an American romance writer living in Pisgah, Missouri. While his skin color unsettles most of the townsfolk, who are used to seeing things in black and white, the quick-witted Raj soon finds his place among a group of children his own age. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhile the friends remain loyal to one another through the years, it becomes clear that their paths will veer in markedly different directions. But breaking free of the demands of their families and their community, as well as one another, comes at a devastating price: As the chilling secrets of Pisgah's residents surface, the madness that erupts will cost Raj his closest friend even as it offers him the life he always dreamed of. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTaking us into the intimate life of small-town America, \u003ci\u003eThe Perfect Man \u003c\/i\u003eexplores both the power of the secrets that shape us and the capacity of love in all its guises to heal even the most damaged of souls.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Random House Trade\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/17\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780812977011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 464\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.58w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Best Books\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2007 pg. 6\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/26\/2007 pg. 65\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2007 pg. 303\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/15\/2007 pg. 23\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2007 pg. 81\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/25\/2007 pg. 88\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/10\/2007 pg. 11\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2007 pg. 229\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSLJ's Best Books\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2007 pg. 40\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Naeem Murr","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51495005749429,"sku":"9780812977011","price":18.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_b4a285d1-b68e-4dba-aecd-ec5e43c2d38e.jpg?v=1754973574","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-perfect-man-9780812977011","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}