{"product_id":"9780811225502","title":"The Last Samurai","description":"\u003cp\u003eHelen DeWitt’s 2000 debut, \u003cem\u003eThe Last Samurai\u003c\/em\u003e, was “destined to become a cult classic” (Miramax). The enterprising publisher sold the rights in twenty countries, so “Why not just, ‘destined to become a classic?’” (Garth Risk Hallberg) And why must cultists tell the uninitiated it has nothing to do with Tom Cruise?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSibylla, an American-at-Oxford turned loose on London, finds herself trapped as a single mother after a misguided one-night stand. High-minded principles of child-rearing work disastrously well. J. S. Mill (taught Greek at three) and Yo Yo Ma (Bach at two) claimed the methods would work with any child; when these succeed with the boy Ludo, he causes havoc at school and is home again in a month. (Is he a prodigy, a genius? Readers looking over Ludo’s shoulder find themselves easily reading Greek and more.) Lacking male role models for a fatherless boy, Sibylla turns to endless replays of Kurosawa’s masterpiece \u003cem\u003eSeven Samurai\u003c\/em\u003e. But Ludo is obsessed with the one thing he wants and doesn’t know: his father’s name. At eleven, inspired by his own take on the classic film, he sets out on a secret quest for the father he never knew. He’ll be punched, sliced, and threatened with retribution. He may not live to see twelve. Or he may find a real samurai and save a mother who thinks boredom a fate worse than death.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Helen DeWitt","offers":[{"title":"New Directions Publishing |  Paperback \/ softback | Trade paperback (US) |  2016-05-31","offer_id":45881818841343,"sku":"9780811225502","price":29.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0329\/9075\/7001\/files\/BNCImageAPI_ff0a1553-9067-4e10-ae68-7f7980736525.jpg?v=1721074804","url":"https:\/\/riverbookshop.com\/products\/9780811225502","provider":"River Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}