{"product_id":"mr-hires-engagementisbn-9780141978468","title":"Mr Hire's Engagement","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e“A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe basis for the 1947 French film noir classic \u003ci\u003ePanique\u003c\/i\u003e, which was rereleased in January 2017\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGeorges Simenon’s chilling portrayal of tragic love, persecution and betrayal\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e“One sensed in him neither flesh nor bone, nothing but soft, flaccid matter, so much so that his movements were hard to make out. Very red lips stood out from his orb-like face, as did the thin moustache that he curled with an iron and looked as if it had been drawn on with India ink; on his cheekbones were the symmetrical pink dots of a doll's cheeks.” \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeople find Mr. Hire strange, disconcerting. The tenants in his building try to avoid him. He is a peeping Tom, a frequent client of sex workers, a dealer in unsavory literature. He is also the prime suspect for a brutal murder that he did not commit. But Mr. Hire’s innocence will not stand in the way of those looking for a scapegoat as tragedy unfolds in this quietly devastating and deeply unnerving novel.\u003cb\u003ePraise for Georges Simenon:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century . . . Simenon was unequaled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “These Maigret books are as timeless as Paris itself.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The matchless French crime novelist.” —Adam Gopnik, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Maigret ranks with Holmes and Poirot in the pantheon of fictional detective immortals.” —\u003ci\u003ePeople\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov.” —William Faulkner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “An astute observer of human nature, writing in a spare and vivid style.” —Amor Towles\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“I never read contemporary fiction–with one exception: the works of Simenon.” —T.S. Eliot\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A writer as comfortable with reality as with fiction, with passion as with reason.” —John Le Carré\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “One of the most important writers of our century.” —Gabriel García Márquez\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A favorite writer of mine.” —Sigrid Nunez\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A great writer of detail, of atmosphere.” —Leïla Slimani\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Feels incredibly modern…A great writer.” —Ian Rankin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature.” —André Gide\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A supreme writer . . . Unforgettable vividness.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Independent\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Superb . . . The most addictive of writers . . . A unique teller of tales.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Compelling, remorseless, brilliant.” —John Gray\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A truly wonderful writer . . . Marvelously readable—lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates.” —Muriel Spark\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were a part of it.” —Peter Ackroyd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century.” —John Banville\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gem-hard soul-probes . . . not just the world's bestselling detective series, but an imperishable literary legend . . . he exposes secrets and crimes not by forensic wizardry, but by the melded powers of therapist, philosopher and confessor\" ―\u003ci\u003eTimes\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Strangely comforting . . . so many lovely bistros from the Paris of mid-20th C. The corpses are incidental, it's the food that counts.\" ―Margaret Atwood\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"One of the greatest writers of the 20th century . . . no other writer can set up a scene as sharply and with such economy as Simenon does . . . the conjuring of a world, a place, a time, a set of characters - above all, an atmosphere.\" ―\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gripping . . . richly rewarding . . . You'll quickly find yourself obsessing about his life as you tackle each mystery in turn.\" ―Stig Abell, \u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times\u003c\/i\u003e (London)\u003cb\u003eGeorges Simenon \u003c\/b\u003e(1903–1989) was born in Liège, Belgium. He is best known in the English-speaking world as the author of the Inspector Maigret books. His prolific output of more than four hundred novels and short stories has made him a household name in continental Europe.\u003csection id=\"sec-cover001\" epub:type=\"cover\"\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003csection id=\"sec-epigraph\" epub:type=\"epigraph\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePENGUIN CLASSICS\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eMR HIRE’S ENGAGEMENT\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘I love reading Simenon. He makes me think of Chekhov’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— William Faulkner\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A truly wonderful writer … marvellously readable – lucid, simple, absolutely in tune with the world he creates’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— Muriel Spark\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Few writers have ever conveyed with such a sure touch, the bleakness of human life’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— A. N. Wilson\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century … Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A novelist who entered his fictional world as if he were part of it’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— Peter Ackroyd\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The greatest of all, the most genuine novelist we have had in literature’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— André Gide\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Superb … The most addictive of writers … A unique teller of tales’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— \u003ci\u003eObserver\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘The mysteries of the human personality are revealed in all their disconcerting complexity’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— Anita Brookner\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A writer who, more than any other crime novelist, combined a high literary reputation with popular appeal’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— P. D. James\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘A supreme writer … Unforgettable vividness’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— \u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Compelling, remorseless, brilliant’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— John Gray\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Extraordinary masterpieces of the twentieth century’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— John Banville\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003csection id=\"sec-abouttheauthor001\" epub:type=\"frontmatter\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eABOUT THE AUTHOR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGeorges Simenon was born on 12 February 1903 in Liège, Belgium, and died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he had lived for the latter part of his life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompleted in 1933, \u003ci\u003eMr Hire’s Engagement\u003c\/i\u003e is one of Simenon’s early novels. It recreates a scene that the author witnessed as a young reporter in Liège, a scene which continued to haunt him for years afterwards: that of an angry mob, and a man chased on to a roof, clinging to the cornice to keep from falling to his death.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003csection id=\"sec-titlepage001\" epub:type=\"titlepage\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGeorges Simenon\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMR HIRE’S ENGAGEMENT\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eTranslated by Anna Moschovakis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003csection id=\"sec-toc\" epub:type=\"toc\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e                    \u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003csection id=\"sec-chapter001\" epub:type=\"chapter\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe concierge cleared her throat before knocking, fixed her eyes on the \u003ci\u003eBelle-Jardinière\u003c\/i\u003e catalogue in her hand, and announced, ‘A letter for you, Mr Hire.’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe pulled her shawl tight across her chest. Somebody moved behind the brown door: first on the left, then on the right; first footsteps, then a muted rumpling of fabric and the clanking of pots; the concierge’s grey eyes seemed to penetrate the wood in pursuit of the invisible noise. At last it drew near. The key turned. A rectangle of light appeared, a carpet of yellow flowers, the marble of a washstand. A man held out his hand, but the concierge didn’t see it, or not clearly – in any case, she wasn’t paying attention. Her ferreting eyes had settled on another object: a towel soaked in blood, glaring deep red against the cold marble.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe door swung closed gently, of its own accord. The key turned again, and the concierge walked down the four flights of stairs, pausing now and then to think. She was thin; her clothes hung from her like a scarecrow’s rags from its skeleton of sticks. Her nose was damp, her eyelids red, her hands chapped from the cold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the other side of the glass-paned door to the concierge’s apartment, a young girl in flannel pyjamas stood in front of a chair with a shallow basin of water on it. Her brother, already dressed, was entertaining himself by splashing her; the table next to them had not been cleared.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThen came the distinct sound of the door opening. The boy turned around. The little girl exhibited a face drenched in tears.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘What have we here … ?’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA slap for the boy, and his mother shoved him out the door.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘You, off to school. And you, if you don’t stop crying …’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe grabbed the girl and got her into her dress, tugging on her arms like on a marionette’s. Then she hid the basin of soapy water in the cupboard, walked towards the door, turned around and walked back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e‘Have you finished whining?’\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShe was thinking, hesitating, her forehead creased, her small eyes worried. She nodded mechanically at the tenant from the second floor as he passed by in the hall; then all of a sudden, she threw on another shawl and hurried out on to the street, first turning down the flame on the stove.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was freezing out. On the Fontainebleau road, which ran through Villejuif, the cars had slowed to a crawl because of the ice, their radiators exhaling steam. A hundred metres to the left was the main intersection, with a bistro on every corner, a policeman in the middle, busy streets stretching from the suburbs to the gates of Paris, trams, buses, cars. But on the right, two houses down, just past the last garage, it was already open road, the country – trees and fields white with frost.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe concierge shivered, hesitating again. She gestured weakly to a man standing on the corner, but he didn’t see her. She ran up to him and grabbed his arm.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46304714326245,"sku":"NP9780141978468","price":11.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780141978468.jpg?v=1730758207","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/mr-hires-engagementisbn-9780141978468","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}