{"product_id":"serpent-1","title":"Serpent","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBy Nicholas Mosley\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePaperback:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781628977165\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eeBook:\u003c\/strong\u003e 9781628977172\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 24th, 2027\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eDescription\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe third installment in Nicholas Mosley’s “Catastrophe Practice” series, \u003cem\u003eSerpent\u003c\/em\u003e is an unorthodox satire that “cracks a deadly serious joke about the human toll of noble ideas” (\u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSet almost entirely on a plane bound for Tel Aviv, \u003cem\u003eSerpent\u003c\/em\u003e follows a screenwriter named Jason and the producers, stars, and family members that accompany him on his journey to make a movie he no longer wants to make. In first class, Jason attempts to persuade his producer to abandon his improbable script about Masada, the fortress where a thousand Jews killed themselves rather than be taken prisoner by Romans in 73 A.D.; meanwhile, Jason’s wife and young son contend with the small humiliations of a long flight in economy. As the plane approaches its destination, several disasters threaten at once, forcing Jason to confront his values and the efficacy of art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dissident son of notorious fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, all of Nicholas Mosley’s works contend with questions of authority and freedom: in \u003cem\u003eSerpent\u003c\/em\u003e, Mosley raises the association between the Jews and the Romans in Jason’s screenplay and the Israeli occupation of Palestine. (“The fact is that oppressed people want their freedom.”) Interspersing excerpts of Jason’s script with the chaos unfolding both on the plane and on the ground below, \u003cem\u003eSerpent\u003c\/em\u003e is an enduringly topical high-wire act of a novel that reads like an engrossing, fast-paced play.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch5\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/h5\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNicholas Mosley\u003c\/strong\u003e (b. 1923) was raised in London, England. He is the author of a dozen novels and a half-dozen works of non-fiction, including an acclaimed biography of his father, the late Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the fascist party in England in the 1930s. Films have been made of two of his novels, \u003cem\u003eAccident\u003c\/em\u003e (using a screenplay by Harold Pinter and directed by Joseph Losey) and\u003cem\u003e Impossible Object\u003c\/em\u003e. Mosley passed away in London in 2017 at the age of 93.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dalkey Archive Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49327503573147,"sku":"9781628977165","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"eBook","offer_id":49327503605915,"sku":"9781628977172","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0594\/2915\/9067\/files\/9781628977165_FC.jpg?v=1787587220","url":"https:\/\/dalkeyarchive.store\/products\/serpent-1","provider":"Dalkey Archive Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}