{"product_id":"501-minutes-to-christ-isbn-9780976631194","title":"501 Minutes to Christ","description":"Poe Ballantine's second collection of personal essays follows in the tradition of\u003ci\u003e Things I Like About America\u003c\/i\u003e. Stories range from \"The Irving,\" which details Ballantine’s diabolical plan to punch John Irving in the nose after opening for him before an audience of 2,000 people that launched the literary festival, Wordstock; to \"Wide-Eyed in the Gaudy Shop,\" which tells how, in Mexico, the narrator met and later married his wife, Cristina; to \"Blessed Meadows for Minor Poets,\" the devastating tale of how after years of sacrifice and persistence, Ballantine finally secured a contract with a major publisher for a short story collection that never came to fruition. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEver present in this collection of essays are the odd jobs, eccentric characters, boarding houses, buses, and beer that populate Mr. Ballantine’s landscape and make his stories uniquely his own. The title story, \"501 Minutes to Christ,\" was included in the Houghton Mifflin anthology, \u003ci\u003eBest American Essays 2006\u003c\/i\u003e.\"Ballantine is never far from the trenches . . . the essays are readable and entertaining and contain occasional moments of startling beauty and insight. Still, the themes of addiction (to substances, people, new starts, the prospect of fame), dissatisfaction, and nihilism may limit the work’s appeal; as with writers such as Chuck Palahniuk, some will become rabid devotees, while others will be turned off.\" —\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Excellent. Ballantine does his best to live an authentic life—the fact that he comes up short, every time, does nothing to make his search any less affecting.\" —Mary Miller, \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003ePOE BALLANTINE\u003c\/b\u003e currently lives in Chadron, Nebraska. His work has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Sun\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKenyon Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Coal City Review\u003c\/i\u003e. In addition to garnering numerous Pushcart and O. Henry nominations, Mr. Ballantine's work has been included in the anthologies \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Short Stories 1998\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Essays 2006\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Hawthorne Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48532118569189,"sku":"NP9780976631194","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780976631194.jpg?v=1773182716","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/501-minutes-to-christ-isbn-9780976631194","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}