{"product_id":"a-personal-matter","title":"A Personal Matter","description":"Oe's most important novel, \u003ci\u003eA Personal Matter, \u003c\/i\u003e has been called by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \"close to a perfect novel.\" In \u003ci\u003eA Personal Matter, \u003c\/i\u003e Oe has chosen a difficult, complex though universal subject: how does one face and react to the birth of an abnormal child? Bird, the protagonist, is a young man of 27 with antisocial tendencies who more than once in his life, when confronted with a critical problem, has \"cast himself adrift on a sea of whisky like a besotted Robinson Crusoe.\" But he has never faced a crisis as personal or grave as the prospect of life imprisonment in the cage of his newborn infant-monster. Should he keep it? Dare he kill it? Before he makes his final decision, Bird's entire past seems to rise up before him, revealing itself to be a nightmare of self-deceit. The relentless honesty with which Oe portrays his hero -- or antihero -- makes Bird one of the most unforgettable characters in recent fiction.\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0802150616\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780802150615\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Oe, Kenzaburo, Nathan, John, N\/A\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Grove Press\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Grove Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Jan 1994)","offer_id":45660017361093,"sku":"9780802150615","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780802150615.jpg?v=1768916734","url":"https:\/\/www.inveni.store\/products\/a-personal-matter","provider":"Inveni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}