{"product_id":"samalio-pardulus-9781939663412","title":"Samalio Pardulus","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA gothic novella offering a stepping-stone between German Romanticism and the then-nascent Expressionism\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn an isolated castle on the outskirts of a city in the Albanian mountains, the wildly ugly painter of blasphemies, Samalio Pardulus, executes works too monstrous to bear viewing, and espouses a philosophy that posits a grotesque world which reflects the ravings of a dead, grotesque god. Told through the horrified account of Messer Giacomo (a mediocre artist at once repulsed and fascinated by the events unfolding around him), \u003ci\u003eSamalio Pardulus\u003c\/i\u003e describes the simultaneous descent and ascent of the titular antihero into a passionate perversion of Catholicism in which love and madness become one, as a dark, incestuous incubus settles into a doomed family. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen it was first published in 1908, Otto Julius Bierbaum's gothic novella--the first of his \u003ci\u003eSonderbare Geschichten\u003c\/i\u003e (\"Weird Stories\")--offered a Gnostic stepping-stone between German Romanticism and the nascent Expressionism that had not yet taken root. It presents the grotesque not just as a way of life, but as a godly path to a higher vision, even when it appears to be but a manifestation of evil. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis first English edition includes the full set of illustrations by Alfred Kubin from the book's 1911 German edition. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eOtto Julius Bierbaum\u003c\/b\u003e (1865-1910) was a German novelist, poet, journalist and editor. His 1897 novel \u003ci\u003eStilpe\u003c\/i\u003e inspired the first cabaret venue in Berlin a few years later; his last novel, the 1909 \u003ci\u003eYankeedoodlefahrt\u003c\/i\u003e, produced a German proverb still in use today: \"Humor is when you laugh anyway.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-4763111\"\u003eOtto Julius Bierbaum\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Wakefield Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/21\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 88\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.25lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 6.90h x 4.30w x 0.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781939663412\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1939663415\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-FIC\"\u003eFiction\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-FIC019000\"\u003eLiterary\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Wakefield Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42666882072813,"sku":"9781939663412","price":12.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_62867c0d-99ac-4e21-b70d-b3cb5a53cc3f.jpg?v=1649437845","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/samalio-pardulus-9781939663412","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}