{"product_id":"the-last-samurai-reread-9780231185837","title":"The Last Samurai Reread","description":"\u003cp\u003eConsidered by some to be the greatest novel of the twenty-first century, Helen DeWitt's brilliant \u003ci\u003eThe Last Samurai\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of Sibylla, an Oxford-educated single mother raising a possible child prodigy, Ludo. Disappointed when he meets his biological father, the boy decides that he can do better. Inspired by Akira Kurosawa's \u003ci\u003eSeven Samurai\u003c\/i\u003e, he embarks on a quixotic, moving quest to find a suitable father. The novel's cult-classic status did not come easy: it underwent a notoriously tortuous publication process and briefly went out of print. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLee Konstantinou combines a riveting reading of \u003ci\u003eThe Last Samurai\u003c\/i\u003e with a behind-the-scenes look at DeWitt's fraught experiences with corporate publishing. He shows how interpreting the ambition and richness of DeWitt's work in light of her struggles with literary institutions provides a potent social critique. The novel helps us think about our capacity for learning and creativity, revealing the constraints that capitalism and material deprivation impose on intellectual flourishing. Drawing on interviews with DeWitt and other key figures, Konstantinou explores the book's composition and its history with Talk Miramax Books, the publishing arm of Bob and Harvey Weinstein's media empire. He argues that \u003ci\u003eThe Last Samurai\u003c\/i\u003e allegorizes its troubled relationship with the institutions and middlemen that ferried it into the world. What's ultimately at stake in Ludo's quest is not only who might make a good father but also how we might fulfill our potential in a world that often seems cruelly designed to thwart that very possibility.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lee Konstantinou\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Columbia University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/22\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeries:\u003c\/b\u003e Rereadings\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 144\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.45lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780231185837","brand":"Columbia University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43273946497161,"sku":"9780231185837","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_d9755458-24cd-4ce9-9c80-a1db47e358c6.jpg?v=1736842859","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/the-last-samurai-reread-9780231185837","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}