{"product_id":"brass-paperback","title":"Brass - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eXhenet Aliu\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A fierce, big-hearted, unflinching debut\"* novel about mothers and daughters, haves and have-nots, and the stark realities behind the American Dream\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003e*Celeste Ng, author of \u003ci\u003eLittle Fires Everywhere\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE GEORGIA AUTHOR OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR FIRST NOVEL - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY \u003ci\u003eSAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE \u003c\/i\u003eAND \u003ci\u003eREAL SIMPLE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A waitress at the Betsy Ross Diner, Elsie hopes her nickel-and-dime tips will add up to a new life. Then she meets Bashkim, who is at once both worldly and na ve, a married man who left Albania to chase his dreams--and wound up working as a line cook in Waterbury, Connecticut. Back when the brass mills were still open, this bustling factory town drew one wave of immigrants after another. Now it's the place they can't seem to leave. Elsie, herself the granddaughter of Lithuanian immigrants, falls in love quickly, but when she learns that she's pregnant, Elsie can't help wondering where Bashkim's heart really lies, and what he'll do about the wife he left behind. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Seventeen years later, headstrong and independent Luljeta receives a rejection letter from NYU and her first-ever suspension from school on the same day. Instead of striking out on her own in Manhattan, she's stuck in Connecticut with her mother, Elsie--a fate she refuses to accept. Wondering if the key to her future is unlocking the secrets of the past, Lulu decides to find out what exactly her mother has been hiding about the father she never knew. As she soon discovers, the truth is closer than she ever imagined. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Told in equally gripping parallel narratives with biting wit and grace, \u003ci\u003eBrass \u003c\/i\u003eannounces a fearless new voice with a timely, tender, and quintessentially American story. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eBrass\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Lustrous . . . a tale alive with humor and gumption, of the knotty, needy bond between a mother and daughter . . .  \u003ci\u003eBrass\u003c\/i\u003e] marks the arrival of a writer whose work will stand the test of time.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eO: The Oprah Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"An exceptional debut novel, one that plumbs the notion of the American Dream while escaping the clich s that pursuit almost always brings with it . . .  Xhenet] Aliu delivers a living, breathing portrait of places left behind.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"The writing blazes on the page. . . . So much about the book is also extraordinarily timely, especially when it focuses on class and culture, and what they really mean.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Aliu is witty and unsparing in her depiction of the town and its inhabitants, illustrating the granular realities of the struggle for class mobility.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eXhenet Aliu\u003c\/b\u003e's debut fiction collection, \u003ci\u003eDomesticated Wild Things, and Other Stories, \u003c\/i\u003e won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction. Her stories and essays have appeared in \u003ci\u003eGlimmer Train, The Barcelona Review, American Short Fiction, \u003c\/i\u003eand elsewhere. She holds an MFA from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and an MLIS from The University of Alabama. A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, she was born to an Albanian father and a Lithuanian American mother. She now lives in Athens, Georgia, and works as an academic librarian.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 320\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.8 x 7.9 x 5.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 08, 2019\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42687183257663,"sku":"9780399590269","price":25.2,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/38a8769783df4c7d67e271a8f6864f46.webp?v=1764977749","url":"https:\/\/dhlswag.com\/products\/brass-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}