{"product_id":"avoid-the-day-jay-kirk-9780062356178","title":"Avoid the Day: A New Nonfiction in Two Movements","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eAvoid the Day\u003c\/em\u003e truly seems to me to push nonfiction memoir as far as it can go without it collapsing into a singularity and I am at a loss for words. You are just going to have to read it.\" -Helen Macdonald, author of \u003cem\u003eH is for Hawk\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA surreal, high-wire act of narrative nonfiction that redefines the genre, \u003cem\u003eAvoid the Day\u003c\/em\u003e is part detective story, part memoir, and part meditation on the meaning of life--all told with a dark pulse of existential horror. What emerges is an unforgettable study of mortality and the artist's journey.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeeking to answer the mystery of a missing manuscript by B駘a Bart, and using the investigation to avoid his father's deathbed, award-winning magazine writer Jay Kirk heads off to Transylvania, going to the same villages where the \"Master,\" like a vampire in search of fresh plasma, had found his new material in the folk music of the peasants. With these stolen songs, Bart redefined music in the 20\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e Century. Kirk, who is also seeking to renew his writing, finds inspiration in the composer's unorthodox methods, but begins to lose his tether as he sees himself in Bart's darkest and most personal work, the \u003cem\u003eCantata Profana, \u003c\/em\u003e which revolves around the curse of fathers and sons. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter a near-psychotic episode under the spell of Bart, the author suddenly finds himself on a posh eco-tourist cruise in the Arctic. There, accompanied by an old friend, now a documentary filmmaker, the two decide to scrap the documentary and make a horror flick instead--shot under the noses of the unsuspecting passengers and crew. Playing one of the main characters who finds himself inexplicably trapped on a ship at the literal end of the world, \u003cem\u003ealone, \u003c\/em\u003e and under the influence of the midnight sun, Kirk gets lost in his own cerebral maze, struggling to answer his most plaguing question: can we find meaning in experience?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Jay Kirk\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0062356178\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780062356178\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Harper Perennial\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/28\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 384\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.20w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/22\/2020","brand":"Jay Kirk","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44119369318655,"sku":"9780062356178","price":20.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_0f957f9b-86ce-4a79-897e-9c0e84a3a20d.jpg?v=1687408991","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/avoid-the-day-jay-kirk-9780062356178","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}