{"product_id":"the-box-tales-from-the-darkroom-isbn-9780547577647","title":"The Box: Tales from the Darkroom","description":"“It is impossible not to be impressed by [Grass’s] inexhaustible desire to experiment with the novel and by the many good stories and passages of exquisite writing in \u003ci\u003eThe Box\u003c\/i\u003e.”—Charles Simic, \u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this inspired and daring work of fiction, Günter Grass writes in the voices of his eight children as they record memories of their childhoods, of growing up, and especially of their father, who was always at work on a new book, always at the margins of their lives. Memories contradictory, happy, loving, accusatory—they piece together an intimate picture of this most public of men. To say nothing of Marie, a photographer and family friend of many years, perhaps even a lover, whose snapshots taken with an old-fashioned Agfa box camera provide the author with ideas for his work. But her images offer much more than simple replication. They reveal a truth beyond ordinary life, depict the future, tell what might have been, grant the wishes of those photographed. The children speculate on the nature of this magic: Was the enchanted camera a source of inspiration for their father? Did it represent the power of art itself? Was it the eye of God? An audacious literary experiment, \u003ci\u003eThe Box\u003c\/i\u003e is Grass at his best. \u003cbr\u003e | \u003cp\u003e \"It may not be a memoir, but it is an exercise in soul-searching…this is a novel of great humility, questioning whether the measure of a life really is a life’s work... [Grass] shows a remarkable willingness to kick a hole in the usual self-importance of a prize-winning author.\"\u003cbr\u003e-\u003cem\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Functioning both as experimental fiction and as a sequel of sorts to Peeling the Onion, Grass’s latest sheds light on a role the revered German author has thus far only touched upon: fatherhood.\" \u003cbr\u003e- \u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e, starred review \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A family documentary in the form of a novel, leaving the reader to decide where the line blurs between fact and fiction…A short, engaging and puzzling novel: “He simply dreams us up!” says a daughter, as the reader wonders what to make of these dreams.” \u003cbr\u003e– \u003cem\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"The Box\u003c\/em\u003e  offers \"the spectacle of a superb writer examining with playful seriousness and intelligent candor the relations between his work and the past.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003e-Boston Globe \u003c\/em\u003e\"Freed from the defensive crouch of his straightforward memoir, Grass has produced something more obscure and occasionally just as beautiful.\"\u003cbr\u003e-\u003cem\u003eThe Daily Beast\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\"Is writing in this way the act of a generous father, maybe even a penitent one, or of a tyrannical egotist? This ambiguity is what gives \u003cem\u003eThe Box\u003c\/em\u003e its modest but genuine power.\" \u003cbr\u003e-Adam Kirsch, \u003cem\u003eSlate\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eThe Box\u003c\/em\u003e moves between the voices of his eight children, in whose collage-like recollections their elusive father-- along with a mysterious woman whose Agfa box camera is an almost magical source of inspiration-- takes shape.\" \u003cbr\u003e-\u003cem\u003eVogue\u003c\/em\u003e (\"Fall's Best Memoirs\")\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperVia","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44890309198053,"sku":"NP9780547577647","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780547577647.jpg?v=1730233004","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-box-tales-from-the-darkroom-isbn-9780547577647","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}