{"product_id":"a-personal-matter-9780802150615","title":"A Personal Matter","description":"\u003cdiv\u003eOe’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.\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Kenzaburo Oe","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42956062687350,"sku":"9780802150615","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0671\/1374\/6550\/files\/CoreSourceHub_b93c562a-88b0-4f55-9750-0a4422c8d8f2.jpg?v=1777483572","url":"https:\/\/ingramacademic.com\/products\/a-personal-matter-9780802150615","provider":"Ingram Academic \u0026 Professional","version":"1.0","type":"link"}