{"product_id":"the-stang-a-kansas-tale-9783000879135","title":"The Stang: A Kansas Tale","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAugust 1995\u003c\/strong\u003e. A German kid lands in Kansas with a suitcase, a mixtape he can't bring himself to play, and his father's theory that environment changes people more efficiently than willpower.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMarion, Kansas. Population 1,932\u003c\/strong\u003e. Frederick Klein arrives for an exchange year with the Corbetts: Frank, who negotiates like weather; Jan, who could fold you into a casserole and send you back to life improved; Jon, built like the town's front line; and two sisters who take turns deciding whether he's worth the wait.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen, outside Carlson's grocery store, he sees it: \u003cstrong\u003ea white 1965 Mustang\u003c\/strong\u003e, FOR SALE sign leaning in the windshield, and a girl in the passenger seat he can't quite translate yet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAround the car, a life assembles. A history teacher who communicates through Sandy Koufax and hands out VHS tapes like assignments. A corner booth where a catcher with bad knees and a friend who speaks entirely in aphorisms hold court over Red Vines and bad movies. Friday nights when the whole town fits inside one stadium, church marquees where JESUS SAVES briefly shares billing with GO WARRIORS, slow laps down Main Street in a car that asks to be looked at. And on the other end of every phone call, Berlin, waiting to see what the experiment yields.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Stang: A Kansas Tale is \u003cstrong\u003ea coming-of-age novel\u003c\/strong\u003e about finding a language for yourself in a place that isn't yours. Set in the \u003cstrong\u003eAmerican heartland\u003c\/strong\u003e of the mid-nineties, it's a love letter to small-town Kansas and to everyone who ever arrived somewhere a stranger and left something else.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Frederik Klein\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/24\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9783000879135\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 590\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.72lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 1.31d","brand":"Frederik Klein","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53273427148981,"sku":"9783000879135","price":22.09,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/9783000879135.jpg?v=1789485587","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-stang-a-kansas-tale-9783000879135","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}