{"product_id":"lessons-in-another-language-megan-staffel-9781935536000","title":"Lessons in Another Language: A Novella and Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003eNot since Alice Munro's \u003ci\u003eThe Beggar Maid\u003c\/i\u003e has there been a book which so articulately reveals the complex \u003cbr\u003e emotional spectrum of children caught in the adult world. The novella and four stories in Lessons in Another \u003cbr\u003e Language give voice to adolescent protagonists who inhabit rich emotional and sensual worlds as they \u003cbr\u003e navigate the wreckage created by the adults meant to be caring for them. In \"Daily Life of the Pioneers,\" two \u003cbr\u003e misguided parents send their children to an austere summer camp designed to mimic the lives of the \"pioneer \u003cbr\u003e children [...] your diet will be raw vegetables which are very tasty and very healthy.\" \"'Why?'\" asks one of \u003cbr\u003e the children, a question that resonates through Staffel's stories as they present the often-na?e ways we adults \u003cbr\u003e project our lives and anxieties onto our children. Charlotte, newly arrived at a Southern college, wanders into \u003cbr\u003e town and is seduced by a thirty-something guy with a car because \"the way he looked at her made her feel like \u003cbr\u003e maybe she wasn't the only refugee. Like maybe he knew her same troubles.\"\u003ci\u003e Lessons in Another Language\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e weaves evocative narratives of abandonment and confusion, of hope betrayed more often than fulfilled.\u003c\/p\u003e Nathan Bogmore, the protagonist of the opening story, \"The Linguist,\" is literally learning a new language, \u003cbr\u003e studying French verbs in the country, where his artist mother has dragged the family on a \"working vacation.\" \u003cbr\u003e Likewise, all Staffel's characters find themselves getting \"lessons in another language,\" the language of \u003cbr\u003e adulthood, of danger and opportunity. Circumstances--an enforced relocation, a trip home, the arrival of new \u003cbr\u003e neighbors and with them a new best friend--veer these characters towards a trouble they're one step behind \u003cbr\u003e understanding. In the mind of Sam Sperry, the contemplative voice at the center of the tour-de-force novella \u003cbr\u003e \"Natives and Strangers,\" \"It was a big, complicated mess, and the only messes Sam had experience with were \u003cbr\u003e the simple ones that got cleaned up with angry voices, a slap on the face, or a sink full of dish soap.\" Staffel's \u003cbr\u003e noir stories are exquisite, gripping observations of lives humbled by the power of the rural land that surrounds \u003cbr\u003e them, of people haunted by the enormity of their longings. Their lessons and the language they teach us offer a \u003cbr\u003e new and compelling translation of what it means to be a family in the modern world.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Megan Staffel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1935536001\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781935536000\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Four Way Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/09\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 210\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.76lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.02h x 6.04w x 0.53d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e IndieFab awards - Silver Medal Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Independent Publisher Book Awards - Bronze Medal Winner","brand":"Megan Staffel","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43937577861375,"sku":"9781935536000","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_48eabb4a-0c3c-4ade-a7f7-bba05f6144e9.jpg?v=1681430885","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/lessons-in-another-language-megan-staffel-9781935536000","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}