{"product_id":"2026200011158-secondhand-the-ballad-of-the-sad-cafe","title":"The Ballad Of The Sad Café","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good to fair. Paperback. Page Condition: Good - possible tanning. Markings: possible previous owner inscription.   \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Ballad of the Sad Café is a masterwork of Southern Gothic fiction by Carson McCullers, set in a lonely, unnamed mill town in the American South. The novella chronicles the strange and tragic love triangle between the fierce, mannish Miss Amelia Evans, her no-good ex-husband Marvin Macy, and the mysterious hunchback Cousin Lymon, whose sudden arrival transforms Miss Amelia's store into a lively café and the heart of the community. McCullers writes with a lyrical, haunting tone that captures the absurdity and pain of unrequited love, arguing that the lover is always more vital than the beloved — that love itself, however twisted, is what gives life meaning. The collection also includes six additional short stories that further illustrate McCullers' extraordinary gift for portraying loneliness, longing, and the grotesque beauty of human connection in the American South.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48956190654683,"sku":"2026200011158-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/786d0b03-13e3-440a-8ab9-5a63d6bff4f9.png?v=1783498921","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200011158-secondhand-the-ballad-of-the-sad-cafe","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}