{"product_id":"love-and-the-incredibly-old-lee-siegel-9780226757056","title":"Love and the Incredibly Old Man","description":"\"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times\" begins one chapter of critically acclaimed Lee Siegel's new novel, \u003ci\u003eLove and the Incredibly Old Man\u003c\/i\u003e. \"In the beginning\" starts another. What else can a novelist do when hired as a ghostwriter by an elderly, irascible, conquistador-costumed man claiming to be the 540-year-old Juan Ponce de León? The fantastic life of that legendary explorer--inventor of rum, cigars, Coca-Cola, and popcorn--is the frame for Siegel's fourth chronicle of love, lies, luck, loss, and labia. \u003cbr\u003e Summoned with cold hard cash and a pinch of flattery, a professor and novelist named Lee Siegel finds himself in Eagle Springs, Florida, attempting to give form to the life of the man who, contrary to popular and historical opinion, did indeed find the Fountain of Youth. Spending humid days listening to the romantic ramblings of the old man and sleepless nights doubting yet trying to craft these reminiscences into a narrative that will satisfy the literary aspirations of his subject, Siegel the ghostwriter spins an improbable tale filled with Native Americans, insatiable monarchs, philandering cantors, deliriously passionate nuns, delicate actresses, androgynous artists, and deceptions small and large. For de León, and for Siegel too, centuries of conquest and colonialism, fortune and identity, are all refracted through the memories of the conquistador's lovers, each and every one of them adored \"more than any other woman ever.\"\u003cbr\u003e Comic, melancholic, lusty, and fully engaged with the act of invention, whether in love or on the page, \u003ci\u003eLove and the Incredibly Old Man\u003c\/i\u003e continues the real Lee Siegel's exuberant exploration of that sentiment which Ponce de León confesses has \"transported me to the most joyous heights, plunged me to the most dismal depths, and dropped me willy-nilly and dumbfounded at all places in between.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lee Siegel\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0226757056\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780226757056\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Chicago Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/11\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.01lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.48w x 0.87d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/25\/2008 pg. 51\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/01\/2008 pg. 215","brand":"Lee Siegel","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48086425698559,"sku":"9780226757056","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_2e5a8031-366d-4d52-a8c7-6e0c09da78b9.jpg?v=1769094601","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/love-and-the-incredibly-old-lee-siegel-9780226757056","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}