{"product_id":"the-seven-madmen-by-roberto-arlt-introduction-by-julio-cortazar","title":"The Seven Madmen \/ by Roberto Arlt; introduction by Julio Cortázar","description":"\u003cp\u003eNYRB Classics, 2015. Trade pb. VG. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"bookDescription_feature_div\" class=\"celwidget\" data-feature-name=\"bookDescription\" data-csa-c-type=\"widget\" data-csa-c-content-id=\"bookDescription\" data-csa-c-slot-id=\"bookDescription_feature_div\" data-csa-c-asin=\"1590179145\" data-csa-c-is-in-initial-active-row=\"false\" data-csa-c-id=\"bl20ha-74mffr-6qxvht-3rufag\" data-cel-widget=\"bookDescription_feature_div\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-a-expander-name=\"book_description_expander\" data-a-expander-collapsed-height=\"280\" class=\"a-expander-collapsed-height a-row a-expander-container a-spacing-base a-expander-partial-collapse-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-expanded=\"false\" class=\"a-expander-content a-expander-partial-collapse-content\"\u003e\n\u003cspan\u003eA weird wonder of Argentine and modern literature and a crucial work for Julio Cortázar, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Seven Madmen\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e begins when its hapless and hopeless hero, Erdosain, is dismissed from his job as a bill collector for embezzlement. Then his wife leaves him and things only go downhill after that. Erdosain wanders the crowded, confusing streets of Buenos Aires, thronging with immigrants almost as displaced and alienated as he is, and finds himself among a group of conspirators who are in thrall to a man known simply as the Astrologer. The Astrologer has the cure for everything that ails civilization. Unemployment will be cured by mass enslavement. (Mountains will be hollowed out and turned into factories.) Mass enslavement will be funded by industrial-scale prostitution. That scheme will be kicked off with murder. “D’you know you look like Lenin?” Erdosain asks the Astrologer. Meanwhile Erdosain struggles to determine the physical location and dimensions of the soul, this thing that is causing him so much pain.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrutal, uncouth, caustic, and brilliantly colored, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Seven Madmen\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003etakes its bearings from Dostoyevsky while looking forward to Thomas Pynchon and Marvel Comics.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"globalStoreInfoBullets_feature_div\" class=\"celwidget\" data-feature-name=\"globalStoreInfoBullets\" data-csa-c-type=\"widget\" data-csa-c-content-id=\"globalStoreInfoBullets\" data-csa-c-slot-id=\"globalStoreInfoBullets_feature_div\" data-csa-c-asin=\"1590179145\" data-csa-c-is-in-initial-active-row=\"false\" data-csa-c-id=\"7i49p9-pqcwvh-3awkfb-p1aq5i\" data-cel-widget=\"globalStoreInfoBullets_feature_div\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"buyingOptionNostosBadge_feature_div\" class=\"celwidget\" data-feature-name=\"buyingOptionNostosBadge\" data-csa-c-type=\"widget\" data-csa-c-content-id=\"buyingOptionNostosBadge\" data-csa-c-slot-id=\"buyingOptionNostosBadge_feature_div\" data-csa-c-asin=\"1590179145\" data-csa-c-is-in-initial-active-row=\"false\" data-csa-c-id=\"xw4p0p-btxr13-n8p154-8lu2fg\" data-cel-widget=\"buyingOptionNostosBadge_feature_div\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"tellAmazon_feature_div\" class=\"celwidget\" data-feature-name=\"tellAmazon\" data-csa-c-type=\"widget\" data-csa-c-content-id=\"tellAmazon\" data-csa-c-slot-id=\"tellAmazon_feature_div\" data-csa-c-asin=\"1590179145\" data-csa-c-is-in-initial-active-row=\"false\" data-csa-c-id=\"c2aa0i-bvmk02-693emp-jju41i\" data-cel-widget=\"tellAmazon_feature_div\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"celwidget c-f\" data-csa-op-log-render=\"\" data-csa-c-content-id=\"DsUnknown\" data-csa-c-slot-id=\"DsUnknown-4\" data-csa-c-type=\"widget\" data-csa-c-painter=\"tell-amazon-desktop-cards\" data-csa-c-id=\"49wxmq-2kaa9s-jt7q7x-vhjvcv\" data-cel-widget=\"tell-amazon-desktop_DetailPage_3\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"CardInstance-Fyh-DSapxUji1aIqU2WgA\" data-card-metrics-id=\"tell-amazon-desktop_DetailPage_3\" data-acp-tracking=\"{}\" data-mix-claimed=\"true\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-asin=\"1590179145\" data-customer-id=\"A3TI0Z176JEMBN\" data-marketplace=\"ATVPDKIKX0DER\" data-session-id=\"144-3979096-7990428\" data-logged-in=\"true\" class=\"_tell-amazon-desktop_style_tell_amazon_div__1YDZk\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Desierto Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46671737389222,"sku":null,"price":10.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0659\/3465\/5654\/files\/seven.jpg?v=1758064162","url":"https:\/\/249f2c-1b.myshopify.com\/products\/the-seven-madmen-by-roberto-arlt-introduction-by-julio-cortazar","provider":"DESIERTO BOOKS","version":"1.0","type":"link"}