{"product_id":"affliction","title":"Affliction","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Banks has taken on a profound theme, the ruinous and awful affliction of violence that seems to live like a secret blood-disease handed down in men like Wade. . . . He turns it into a living art that can bring recognition and awe.\" —\u003cem\u003e Los Angeles Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"A masterwork of contemporary American fiction\" (\u003cem\u003eChicago Tribune\u003c\/em\u003e) from one of the most acclaimed and important writers of our time\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWade Whitehouse is an improbable protagonist for a tragedy. A well-digger and policeman in a bleak New Hampshire town, he is a former high-school star gone to beer fat, a loner with a mean streak. It is a mark of Russell Banks's artistry and understanding that Wade comes to loom in one's mind as a blue-collar American Everyman afflicted by the dark secret of the macho tradition. Told by his articulate, equally scarred younger brother, Wade's story becomes as spellbinding and inexorable as a fuse burning its way to the dynamite.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Russell Banks","offers":[{"title":"Trade Paperback","offer_id":55254372712739,"sku":"9780060920074","price":16.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0930\/2258\/5123\/files\/9780060920074.jpg?v=1781827443","url":"https:\/\/epicreads.com\/products\/affliction","provider":"Epic Reads","version":"1.0","type":"link"}