{"product_id":"theres-a-monster-in-the-lake-the-world-as-a-fantastical-place-9781644454190","title":"There's a Monster in the Lake: The World as a Fantastical Place","description":"\u003cp\u003eA witty meditation revealing what our obsession with monsters says about wonder, reality, and narrative itself \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat does the Loch Ness Monster tell us about belief, tourism, and the stories we need to survive? In this formally innovative essay, award-winning Spanish writer Laura Fernández travels to the Scottish Highlands to investigate the legend of Nessie and develops a perspective on humanity's perpetual and sometimes destructive need to \"discover.\" From the 1933 sighting that launched a media sensation to the cast of monster hunters, fraudsters, and devotees who have perpetuated the story, Fernández unravels how we transform mystery into tourist attraction. Boarding a cruise ship on Loch Ness itself, she encounters a world where imagination and commerce collide. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut this is more than a travelogue. Fernández probes deeper: What does reality consist of and who is creating it? How is observing also living? In a world increasingly hostile to the fantastical, what does our relationship with Nessie reveal about how we inhabit reality itself? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWritten with the punch of Douglas Adams and the ambition of Thomas Pynchon, \u003ci\u003eThere's a Monster in the Lake\u003c\/i\u003e is a brilliant meditation on monsters in the age of manufactured reality. Reminiscent of David Foster Wallace's \u003ci\u003eConsider the Lobster\u003c\/i\u003e, Fernández's essay is both playful and philosophical, a celebration of imagination as the source of our humanity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Graywolf Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/06\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781644454190\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 104\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00h x 1.00w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/17\/2026 pg. 1\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/15\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/17\/2026\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Laura Fern\u0026#195;\u0026#161;ndez","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53241117278389,"sku":"9781644454190","price":13.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/9781644454190.jpg?v=1789486400","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/theres-a-monster-in-the-lake-the-world-as-a-fantastical-place-9781644454190","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}