{"product_id":"the-birthday-of-the-world-and-other-stories","title":"The Birthday of the World: And Other Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Le Guin is a writer of enormous intelligence and wit, a master storyteller with the humor and force of a Twain. . . . \u003cem\u003eThe Birthday of the World \u003c\/em\u003eis prime new Le Guin. Like a tour of other countries, these splendid and necessary stories will send you back home with new eyes.\" --\u003cem\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eUrsula K. Le Guin has enthralled readers with her imagination, clarity, and moral vision. The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and five Hugo and five Nebula Awards, this renowned writer has, in each story and novel, created a provocative, ever-evolving universe filled with diverse worlds and rich characters reminiscent of our earthly selves. In \u003cem\u003eThe Birthday of the World\u003c\/em\u003e, she returns to these worlds in eight brilliant short works, including a never-before-published novella, each of which probes the essence of humanity.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere are stories that explore complex social interactions and troublesome issues of gender and sex; that define and defy notions of personal relationships and of society itself; that examine loyalty, survival, and introversion; that bring to light the vicissitudes of slavery and the meaning of transformation, religion, and history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe first six tales in this spectacular volume are set in the author's signature world of the Ekumen, \"my pseudo-coherent universe with holes in the elbows,\" as Le Guin describes it--a world made familiar in her award-winning novel \u003cem\u003eThe Left Hand of Darkness\u003c\/em\u003e. The seventh, title story was hailed by \u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e as \"remarkable . . . a standout.\" The final offering in the collection, \u003cem\u003eParadises Lost\u003c\/em\u003e, is a mesmerizing novella of space exploration and the pursuit of happiness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn her foreword, Le Guin writes, \"to create difference--to establish strangeness--then to let the fiery arc of human emotion leap and close the gap: this acrobatics of the imagination fascinates and satisfies me as no other.\" In \u003cem\u003eThe Birthday of the World\u003c\/em\u003e, this gifted literary acrobat exhibits a dazzling array of skills that will fascinate and satisfy us all.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"display:none\"\u003eISBN-10: 0060509066\u003cbr\u003eISBN-13: 9780060509064\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Le Guin, Ursula K.\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Harper Perennial\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Paperback (Mar 2003)","offer_id":45936687907013,"sku":"9780060509064","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0708\/6414\/2533\/files\/9780060509064.jpg?v=1772849840","url":"https:\/\/www.inveni.store\/products\/the-birthday-of-the-world-and-other-stories","provider":"Inveni","version":"1.0","type":"link"}