{"product_id":"the-traitors-niche-a-novel","title":"The Traitor's Niche: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003eLONG-LISTED FOR THE 2017 MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZE  \"Kadare is inevitably linked to Orwell and Kundera  but he is a far deeper ironist than the first  and a better storyteller than the second. He is a compellingly ironic storyteller because he so brilliantly summons details that explode with symbolic reality.\" The New Yorker  \"The name of the Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare regularly comes up at Nobel Prize time  and he is still a good bet to win it one of these days . . . He is seemingly incapable of writing a book that fails to be interesting.\" The New York Times  At the heart of the Ottoman Empire  in the main square of Constantinople  a niche is carved into ancient stone. Here  the sultan displays the severed heads of his adversaries. People flock to see the latest head and gossip about the state of the empire: the province of Albania is demanding independence again  and the niche awaits a new trophy . . .  Tundj Hata  the imperial courier  is charged with transporting heads to the capitala task he relishes and performs with fervor. As he travels through obscure and impoverished territories  he makes money from illicit side-shows  offering villagers the spectacle of death. The head of the rebellious Albanian governor would fetch a very high price indeed.  The Traitors Niche is a surreal tale of tyranny and rebellion  in a land where armies carry scarecrows  state officials ban entire languages  and the act of forgetting is more complicated than remembering.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44964995334197,"sku":"ByrdShop_1640090444","price":28.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781640090446.jpg?v=1770486404","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-traitors-niche-a-novel","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}