{"product_id":"gloss-tilo-plziger-de-zjzagznnza-9798278467663","title":"Gloss: The À\u0026#7778;\u0026#7864; Portraits","description":"\u003cb\u003eGLOSS\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eA novel about reflections, sweetness, and the thin line between self-presentation and self-erasure.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eEvery morning, a woman walks to the river, using water as her first mirror of the day. \u003c\/b\u003eLater, the city offers other surfaces: shop windows, phone screens, café glass, ATM vestibules, bathroom mirrors. Each one returns a slightly different version of her, each one teaches her body what kind of face is acceptable. Messages arrive from someone who knows how to use her softness like a key: \"Are you up?\" \"Can you talk?\" \u003cb\u003eThe pressure to be pleasing\u003c\/b\u003e - to be glossy, polished, reflective - begins as habit and ends as a form of disappearance. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGLOSS follows her through river light, crosswalk shine, salons, receipts and labels, tracking where sweetness turns into strategy and where \"being kind\" becomes a way of pre-editing herself in every interaction. The city behaves like one long cosmetic aisle, full of products, filters and reassurances that something can be fixed if she only buys, behaves or glows correctly. \u003cb\u003eThe question is not whether she is visible, but whose story her visibility is serving.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eUnderneath, the book is tuned to the \u003cb\u003eOdù Ìròsùn from the Yoruba Ifá system and the shimmering, honey-sharp presence of Òṣun, Òrìṣà of sweetness, \u003c\/b\u003ebeauty and dangerous charm. Àṣẹ moves in light and surface: each gloss, each reflection carries a small charge that blesses and consumes at the same time, just as the Odù holds both delight and warning. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePerfect for readers who appreciate: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- The interior, intense prose of \u003cb\u003eClarice Lispector\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003cb\u003eDeborah Levy\u003c\/b\u003e, or \u003cb\u003eMaggie Nelson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003cb\u003eNovels preoccupied with mirrors, \u003c\/b\u003e phones and how cities teach us to look at ourselves\u003cbr\u003e- \u003cb\u003eStories about gendered expectations of sweetness\u003c\/b\u003e, availability and charm\u003cbr\u003e- \u003cb\u003eLiterary fiction that treats cosmetics\u003c\/b\u003e, light and glass as serious narrative tools \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eGLOSS\u003c\/b\u003e is \u003cb\u003eBook 05\u003c\/b\u003e of \u003cb\u003eTHE ÀṢẸ PORTRAITS\u003c\/b\u003e - a stand-alone, city-anchored novel for readers interested in\u003cb\u003e how beauty becomes a quiet form of obedience.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Tilo Plöger de Àjàgùnnà\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798278467663\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/12\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 110\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.32lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.28d","brand":"Tilo Plöger de Àjàgùnnà","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48997313020159,"sku":"9798278467663","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/gloss-tilo-plziger-de-zjzagznnza-9798278467663","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}