{"product_id":"by-the-iowa-sea-joe-blair-9781451636062","title":"By the Iowa Sea: A Memoir","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis vivid memoir about the heartbreaks and ecstasies of marriage, fatherhood, and small-town Midwestern life is \"so raw and true you'll gasp\" (\u003ci\u003eO, The Oprah Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eHeralding the arrival of an original American voice, By the Iowa Sea is a wrenching, unsentimental account of the heartbreaks and ecstasies of marriage, fatherhood, and small-town Midwestern life.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAfter his first cross-country motorcycle trip, Joe Blair believed he had discovered his calling: he would travel; he would never cave in to convention; he would never settle down. Fifteen years later, he finds himself living in Iowa, working as an air-conditioning repairman and spending his free time cleaning gutters, taxiing his children, and contemplating marital infidelity. When the Iowa River floods, transforming the familiar streets of his small town into a terrible and beautiful sea, Joe begins to question the path that led him to this place. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eExquisitely observed and lyrically recounted, this is a compelling and often humorous account of an ordinary man's struggle to live an extraordinary life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joe Blair\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1451636067\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781451636062\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Scribner Book Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/05\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 304\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.31h x 5.56w x 0.82d","brand":"Joe Blair","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43935903908095,"sku":"9781451636062","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_59498d23-9108-403b-a09d-b0fd62ea54be.jpg?v=1681422494","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/by-the-iowa-sea-joe-blair-9781451636062","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}