{"product_id":"the-art-of-joy-a-novel-9780374106140","title":"The Art of Joy: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe tumultuous twentieth century  told through the life of a single extraordinary woman Rejected by a series of publishers  abandoned in a chest for twenty years  Goliarda Sapienzas masterpiece  The Art of Joy  survived a turbulent path to publication. It wasnt until 2005  when it was released in France  that this novel received the recognition it deserves. At last  Sapienzas remarkable book is available in English  in a brilliant translation by Anne Milano Appel and with an illuminating introduction by Angelo Pellegrino. The Art of Joy centers on Modesta  a Sicilian woman born on January 1  1900  whose strength and character are an affront to conventional morality. Impoverished as a child  Modesta believes she is destined for a better life. She is able  through grace and intelligence  to secure marriage to an aristocratwithout compromising her own deeply felt values. Friend  mother  loverModesta revels in upsetting the rules of her fascist  patriarchal society. This is the history of the twentieth century  transfigured by the perspective of one extraordinary woman. Sapienza  an intriguing figure in her own righther father homeschooled her so she wouldnt be exposed to fascist influenceswas a respected actress and writer who drew on her own struggles to craft this powerful epic. A fictionalized memoir  a book of romance and adventure  a feminist text  a bildungsromanthis novel is ultimately undefinable but deeply necessary; its genius will leave readers breathless.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45665865400373,"sku":"ByrdShop_0374106142","price":117.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780374106140.jpg?v=1782411145","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-art-of-joy-a-novel-9780374106140","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}