{"product_id":"the-prisoner-pear-elissa-minor-rust-9780804010788","title":"The Prisoner Pear: Stories from the Lake","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe twelve stories in \u003ci\u003eThe Prisoner Pear: Stories from the Lake\u003c\/i\u003e take place in an affluent suburb of Portland, Oregon, but they could be taken from any number of similar enclaves across the United States. These stories infuse stark reality with occasional hints of magical realism to explore what the American dream means to twenty-first-century suburbanites. In a city where the homecoming queen still makes the front page of the weekly newspaper, ducks caught in storm drains and stolen campaign signs make up the bulk of the paper's crime reports. The community's hidden complexities, however, rival those of Sherwood Anderson's \u003ci\u003eWinesburg, Ohio\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEach of the stories begins with an entry from the newspaper's police blotter. Elissa Minor Rust fills in the background to these small, odd events-a headless parakeet found in a mailbox, a nude jogger, an alarmingly deathlike discarded teddy bear. Her stories, both humorous and disturbing, probe beneath the clear, hard surface of a community into the murky depths beneath.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe lake at the center of town is a constant in the lives of this town's people, and it reappears throughout the book as a symbol of wealth and power, of love and loss. \u003ci\u003eThe Prisoner Pear\u003c\/i\u003e offers a rare look inside the heart of suburban America. Reading these stories is, as one character observes, \"like seeing the town from the inside out, as if the lake was its heart and the rest merely its bones and skin.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Elissa Minor Rust\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0804010781\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780804010788\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ohio University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/01\/2006\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 208\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.51lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.32h x 5.34w x 0.49d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/03\/2005 pg. 48\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/15\/2005 pg. 1105\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2006 pg. 31\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2006 pg. 17\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2006 pg. 17\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2006 pg. 56","brand":"Elissa Minor Rust","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44634692944127,"sku":"9780804010788","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_cac0b9b8-af18-4c37-8036-0a22969e4f2c.jpg?v=1703590438","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-prisoner-pear-elissa-minor-rust-9780804010788","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}