{"product_id":"9798217007332","title":"The Catacombs","description":"\u003cb\u003eAn expat in Rome makes his way as a writer in this gripping and genre-defying novel, first published in 1965 by a rediscovered great of Black American literature.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“One of the great novelists of the last 100 years.” —Ishmael Reed, author of \u003ci\u003eMumbo Jumbo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn this masterpiece of metafiction set in the Rome of the tumultuous 1960s, Black American expatriate Bill Demby narrates his attempts to write a novel about his friend Doris, another Black American working as one of Elizabeth Taylor’s handmaidens in the filming of \u003ci\u003eCleopatra\u003c\/i\u003e. Utterly dependent upon Doris for the development of his novel, Demby is both a participant in and observer of her life as she begins an affair with an Italian count. Demby’s growing emotional and artistic involvement in the tumultuous affair of his character-friend leads him on an existential quest for the meaning of truth and fiction, both lived and created, in a world torn by the social upheaval of the early sixties.","brand":"William Demby","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback Trade paperback (US)","offer_id":47564140413140,"sku":"9798217007332","price":23.0,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1000\/9208\/files\/BNCImageAPI_fa26837f-8b87-4a2a-b10c-f3865f630ac0.jpg?v=1771369203","url":"https:\/\/penguinshop.ca\/products\/9798217007332","provider":"Penguin Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}