{"product_id":"the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie-the-girls-of-slender-means-the-drivers-seat-the-only-problem-isbn-9781400042067","title":"The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Girls of Slender Means, The Driver's Seat, The Only Problem","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe brevity of Muriel Spark’s novels is equaled only by their brilliance. These four novels, each a miniature masterpiece, illustrate her development over four decades. Despite the seriousness of their themes, all four are fantastic comedies of manners, bristling with wit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpark’s most celebrated novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie\u003c\/i\u003e, tells the story of a charismatic schoolteacher’s catastrophic effect on her pupils. \u003ci\u003eThe Girls of Slender Means \u003c\/i\u003eis a beautifully drawn portrait of young women living in a hostel in London in the giddy postwar days of 1945. \u003ci\u003eThe Driver’s Seat \u003c\/i\u003efollows the final haunted hours of a woman descending into madness. And \u003ci\u003eThe Only Problem \u003c\/i\u003eis a witty fable about suffering that brings the Book of Job to bear on contemporary terrorism.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll four novels give evidence of one of the most original and unmistakable voices in contemporary fiction. Characters are vividly etched in a few words; earth-shaking events are lightly touched on. Yet underneath the glittering surface there is an obsessive probing of metaphysical questions: the meaning of good and evil, the need for salvation, the search for significance.\u003c\/p\u003e“Muriel Spark is one of the few writers on either side of the Atlantic with enough resources, daring, and stamina to be altering, as well as feeding, the fiction machine…We are never out of touch in a Spark novel with the happiness of creation; the sudden willful largesse of magic and wit, the cunning tautness of suspense.”–John Updike, \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“One of our greatest living novelists.” –\u003ci\u003eThe Times\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Spark’s powers of invention are apparently inexhaustible.” –\u003ci\u003eCommonwealth \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Spark is] one of this century’s finest creators of comic-metaphysical entertainment.” –\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Some of [Spark’s] finest fictions are novellas rather than novels, short enough to be read in a single dizzying sitting.” –David Lodge\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Spark] has written some things that seem likely to go on being read as long as fiction in English is read at all.” –\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eMURIEL SPARK\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1918. She is the author of over twenty novels as well as collections of short stories. Her most celebrated works include \u003ci\u003eThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie \u003c\/i\u003e(1961), \u003ci\u003eLoitering with Intent\u003c\/i\u003e (1981), \u003ci\u003eThe Comforters\u003c\/i\u003e (1957), \u003ci\u003eThe Public Image\u003c\/i\u003e (1968), \u003ci\u003eThe Girls of Slender Means\u003c\/i\u003e (1963), \u003ci\u003eThe Driver’s Seat\u003c\/i\u003e (1970) and \u003ci\u003eAiding and Abetting\u003c\/i\u003e (2001). She was awarded the OBE in 1993 and is a Dame of the British Empire. She has also been awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Edinburgh, as well as the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. She lives in Tuscany.","brand":"Everyman's Library","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301809541349,"sku":"NP9781400042067","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781400042067.jpg?v=1767741063","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie-the-girls-of-slender-means-the-drivers-seat-the-only-problem-isbn-9781400042067","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}