{"product_id":"a-personal-matter-9780802150615-new","title":"A Personal Matter","description":"Oe's most important novel, \u003ci\u003eA Personal Matter, \u003c\/i\u003e has been called by \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \"close to a perfect novel.\" In \u003ci\u003eA Personal Matter, \u003c\/i\u003e Oe has chosen a difficult, complex though universal subject: how does one face and react to the birth of an abnormal child? Bird, the protagonist, is a young man of 27 with antisocial tendencies who more than once in his life, when confronted with a critical problem, has \"cast himself adrift on a sea of whisky like a besotted Robinson Crusoe.\" But he has never faced a crisis as personal or grave as the prospect of life imprisonment in the cage of his newborn infant-monster. Should he keep it? Dare he kill it? Before he makes his final decision, Bird's entire past seems to rise up before him, revealing itself to be a nightmare of self-deceit. The relentless honesty with which Oe portrays his hero -- or antihero -- makes Bird one of the most unforgettable characters in recent fiction.","brand":"Grove Press","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":52846026621088,"sku":"9780802150615-new","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0463\/0115\/1392\/files\/41W83so5XiL.jpg?v=1758736592","url":"https:\/\/shop.mtwyouth.org\/products\/a-personal-matter-9780802150615-new","provider":"More Than Words ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}