{"product_id":"2026600000559-secondhand-mantissa","title":"Mantissa","description":"\u003cp\u003eEdition: 1st uk ed.,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBook: Good                          \u003cbr\u003eJacket: Worn\/faded, no tears\u003cbr\u003ePages: Good                  \u003cbr\u003eMarkings: No markings\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA daring work of postmodern literary fiction, Mantissa presents a wickedly satirical battle of wills between a novelist suffering from amnesia and the Muse herself, confined entirely within the walls of a hospital room — or perhaps the chambers of the protagonist's own mind. John Fowles constructs a razor-sharp, self-referential narrative that dissects the creative process, the male gaze, and the fraught relationship between an author and his inspiration with equal parts wit and provocation. The novel unfolds as a series of shifting, playful confrontations in which the Muse adopts multiple identities, challenging not only the protagonist but the very conventions of fiction itself. Unapologetically cerebral and laced with dark humor, it argues that the act of writing is inseparable from desire, ego, and self-deception. Mantissa stands as one of Fowles's most audacious and intellectually charged works, rewarding readers who relish metafiction at its most uncompromising.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48792287084763,"sku":"2026600000559-SECONDHAND","price":20.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/1aae49a7-e939-4a29-8c73-ff7af2f8bff1.png?v=1779274675","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026600000559-secondhand-mantissa","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}