{"product_id":"thus-bad-begins-9781101911914","title":"Thus Bad Begins","description":"\u003cb\u003eINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER \u003cb\u003e- \u003c\/b\u003eFrom the award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Infatuations\u003c\/i\u003e comes the mesmerizing story of a couple living in the shadow of a mysterious, unhappy history--a novel about the cruel, tender punishments we exact on those we love. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A literary mystery ...\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ecalls to mind Paul Auster, Donna Tartt, and Carlos Ruiz Zafón; purely as literature, it feels like an heir to the searching human nuance of the novels of Gabriel García Márquez ... Javier Marías is the real deal ... Mesmerizing.\" \u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMadrid, 1980. Juan de Vere, nearly finished with his university degree, takes a job as personal assistant to Eduardo Muriel, an eccentric, once-successful film director. Urbane, discreet, irreproachable, Muriel is an irresistible idol to the young man. But Muriel's voluptuous wife, Beatriz, inhabits their home like an unwanted ghost; and on the periphery of their lives is Dr. Jorge Van Vechten, a family friend implicated in unsavory rumors that Muriel now asks Juan to investigate. As Juan draws closer to the truth, he uncovers only more questions. What is at the root of Muriel's hostility toward his wife? How did Beatriz meet Van Vechten? What happened during the war? Marías leads us deep into the intrigues of these characters, through a daring exploration of rancor, suspicion, loyalty, trust, and the infinitely permeable boundaries between the deceptions perpetrated on us by others and those we inflict upon ourselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Vintage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/14\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781101911914\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 464\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.92lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.30w x 1.00d","brand":"Javier Mar\u0026#195;\u0026#173;as","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44240981229749,"sku":"9781101911914","price":14.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_e7845657-a161-4c6f-94aa-264ed52c9f0f.jpg?v=1717470280","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/thus-bad-begins-9781101911914","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}