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The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel by Magdalena Zyzak (2014,HCDJ) 1st ed., humor

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Condition:
Good
good solid shape with very little wear.
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Item specifics

Condition
Good
A book that has been read but is in good condition. Very minimal damage to the cover including scuff marks, but no holes or tears. The dust jacket for hard covers may not be included. Binding has minimal wear. The majority of pages are undamaged with minimal creasing or tearing, minimal pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages. See the seller’s listing for full details and description of any imperfections. See all condition definitionsopens in a new window or tab
Seller notes
“good solid shape with very little wear.”
Publication Name
Holt & Company, Henry
Signed
No
Ex Libris
No
Narrative Type
Fiction
Original Language
English
Intended Audience
Adults
Inscribed
No
Edition
First Edition
Vintage
No
Personalize
No
Type
Novel
Personalized
No
Features
Dust Jacket
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States
ISBN
9780805095104

About this product

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Holt & Company, Henry
ISBN-10
0805095101
ISBN-13
9780805095104
eBay Product ID (ePID)
166451497

Product Key Features

Book Title
Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel
Number of Pages
288 Pages
Language
English
Publication Year
2014
Topic
General, Literary
Genre
Fiction
Author
Magdalena Zyzak
Format
Hardcover

Dimensions

Item Height
1 in
Item Weight
12.9 Oz
Item Length
8.5 in
Item Width
5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
2013-010978
Reviews
The characters in Polish-born Zyzak's first novel are innocent, racist, religiously pious, and practice infidelity; they're all also one or more cards short of a full deck. The chaos that results is epic and entertaining., "A wickedly good debut…[It] shares a fleet-footed, darkly comic spirit with the works of Milan Kundera and Josef Skvorecky, but its real affinities are much older: with the folk tales through which Europe's peasants for centuries expressed their blunt fatalism about political power and human nature…Zyzak's wicked wit expresses a matter-of-fact acceptance of the world as it is, rife with cruelty and suffering, but also with kindness, love and a lot of laughs…Mark Twain, for one, would have thoroughly enjoyed the all-too-human misadventures she describes." - Los Angeles Times "A novel about an Eastern European village straight in the Nazi's path in the opening days of WWII gets an unlikely spin in Polish author Zyzak's first novel: It's a comedy - part Marx Brothers, part Warner Bros. cartoon." - The New York Post , required reading "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut." -- T.C. Boyle "Like the best folktales, Magdalena Zyzak's debut has a rollicking wit and a strange melancholy undertow that pulls you into a dark and deeply imagined world." --Jenny Offill, author of Last Things and The Dept. of Speculation "An absurdist page-turner that's also thoroughly human and moving…A good debut novel can deliver a compelling story, well-formed characters, interesting dialogue and a solid thematic punch-but a great debut novel also introduces an unforgettable voice. With The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel , Magdalena Zyzak has done all of the above, creating a modern folktale that's both delightfully strange and remarkably sensitive." - BookPage "In her first novel, Polish American author Zyzak serenades her readers with the tale of Barnabas Pierkiel… Zyzak's unique storytelling style evokes the timeless magic of a fairy tale, even as her colorful characters and eye for the absurd break that convention into distinctly modern pieces." Booklist " The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel has a double, perhaps triple identity: it's a novel and a folktale with elements of being a ballad... Its chiseled locution reminds one of the triumph of Joseph Conrad, another Pole who wrote masterworks in his second language, English."- Buffalo News "The book starts with a dirty joke and ends with a bloody battle, and in between lies a great deal of carefully measured absurdist humor…a picaresque novel in the vein of Don Quixote , with shades of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and Nikolai Gogol thrown in…. reads like a better-educated version of a Mel Brooks movie, complete with gypsy curses and Nazis." Kirkus Review "A wild, imaginative farce…Dostoevsky conflated with Woody Allen…It will infuriate as many readers as it delights." -- Publishers Weekly "The characters in Polish-born Zyzak's first novel are innocent, racist, religiously pious, and practice infidelity; they're all also one or more cards short of a full deck. The chaos that results is epic and entertaining."- Library Journal, "In her first novel, Polish American author Zyzak serenades her readers with the tale of Barnabas Pierkiel… Zyzak's unique storytelling style evokes the timeless magic of a fairy tale, even as her colorful characters and eye for the absurd break that convention into distinctly modern pieces." Booklist "The book starts with a dirty joke and ends with a bloody battle, and in between lies a great deal of carefully measured absurdist humor…a picaresque novel in the vein of Don Quixote , with shades of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and Nikolai Gogol thrown in…. reads like a better-educated version of a Mel Brooks movie, complete with gypsy curses and Nazis." Kirkus Review "A wild, imaginative farce…Dostoevsky conflated with Woody Allen…It will infuriate as many readers as it delights." -- Publishers Weekly "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut."--T.C. Boyle "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story, "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut." -- T.C. Boyle "Like the best folktales, Magdalena Zyzak's debut has a rollicking wit and a strange melancholy undertow that pulls you into a dark and deeply imagined world." --Jenny Offill, author of Last Things and The Dept. of Speculation "In her first novel, Polish American author Zyzak serenades her readers with the tale of Barnabas Pierkiel… Zyzak's unique storytelling style evokes the timeless magic of a fairy tale, even as her colorful characters and eye for the absurd break that convention into distinctly modern pieces." Booklist "The book starts with a dirty joke and ends with a bloody battle, and in between lies a great deal of carefully measured absurdist humor…a picaresque novel in the vein of Don Quixote , with shades of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and Nikolai Gogol thrown in…. reads like a better-educated version of a Mel Brooks movie, complete with gypsy curses and Nazis." Kirkus Review "A wild, imaginative farce…Dostoevsky conflated with Woody Allen…It will infuriate as many readers as it delights." -- Publishers Weekly, "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer.  The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut."--T.C. Boyle"Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story, "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer.  The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut."--T.C. Boyle "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story, [A] work intoxicated with language and reveling in storytelling of the goofiest and most venerable sort. There are shades of Don Quixote and Candide in our hero... reminiscent of Vladimir and Estragon, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and some of Shakespeare's more delightful fools ...[Zyzak's]prose shakes and dusts off the language and reminds us of its familiar and forgotten delights., A wild, imaginative farce...Dostoevsky conflated with Woody Allen...It will infuriate as many readers as it delights., "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story, "Like the best folktales, Magdalena Zyzak's debut has a rollicking wit and a strange melancholy undertow that pulls you into a dark and deeply imagined world." --Jenny Offill, author of Last Things and The Dept. of Speculation "In her first novel, Polish American author Zyzak serenades her readers with the tale of Barnabas Pierkiel… Zyzak's unique storytelling style evokes the timeless magic of a fairy tale, even as her colorful characters and eye for the absurd break that convention into distinctly modern pieces." Booklist "The book starts with a dirty joke and ends with a bloody battle, and in between lies a great deal of carefully measured absurdist humor…a picaresque novel in the vein of Don Quixote , with shades of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and Nikolai Gogol thrown in…. reads like a better-educated version of a Mel Brooks movie, complete with gypsy curses and Nazis." Kirkus Review "A wild, imaginative farce…Dostoevsky conflated with Woody Allen…It will infuriate as many readers as it delights." -- Publishers Weekly "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut."--T.C. Boyle "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story, "An absurdist page-turner that's also thoroughly human and moving...A good debut novel can deliver a compelling story, well-formed characters, interesting dialogue and a solid thematic punchbut a great debut novel also introduces an unforgettable voice. With The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel , Magdalena Zyzak has done all of the above, creating a modern folktale that's both delightfully strange and remarkably sensitive." BookPage "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut." -- T.C. Boyle "Like the best folktales, Magdalena Zyzak's debut has a rollicking wit and a strange melancholy undertow that pulls you into a dark and deeply imagined world." --Jenny Offill, author of Last Things and The Dept. of Speculation "In her first novel, Polish American author Zyzak serenades her readers with the tale of Barnabas Pierkiel... Zyzak's unique storytelling style evokes the timeless magic of a fairy tale, even as her colorful characters and eye for the absurd break that convention into distinctly modern pieces." Booklist "The book starts with a dirty joke and ends with a bloody battle, and in between lies a great deal of carefully measured absurdist humor...a picaresque novel in the vein of Don Quixote , with shades of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and Nikolai Gogol thrown in.... reads like a better-educated version of a Mel Brooks movie, complete with gypsy curses and Nazis." Kirkus Review "A wild, imaginative farce...Dostoevsky conflated with Woody Allen...It will infuriate as many readers as it delights." -- Publishers Weekly "The characters in Polish-born Zyzak's first novel are innocent, racist, religiously pious, and practice infidelity; they're all also one or more cards short of a full deck. The chaos that results is epic and entertaining." Library Journal, The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel has a double, perhaps triple identity: it's a novel and a folktale with elements of being a ballad... Its chiseled locution reminds one of the triumph of Joseph Conrad, another Pole who wrote masterworks in his second language, English., A novel about an Eastern European village straight in the Nazi's path in the opening days of WWII gets an unlikely spin in Polish author Zyzak's first novel: It's a comedy|9780805095104|, Like the best folktales, Magdalena Zyzak's debut has a rollicking wit and a strange melancholy undertow that pulls you into a dark and deeply imagined world., An absurdist page-turner that's also thoroughly human and moving...A good debut novel can deliver a compelling story, well-formed characters, interesting dialogue and a solid thematic punch|9780805095104|, A novel about an Eastern European village straight in the Nazi's path in the opening days of WWII gets an unlikely spin in Polish author Zyzak's first novel: It's a comedy--part Marx Brothers, part Warner Bros. cartoon., The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel has a double, perhaps triple identity: it's a novel and a folktale with elements of being a ballad... Its chiseled locution reminds one of the triumph of Joseph Conrad, another Pole who wrote masterworks in his second language, English., "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut."--T.C. Boyle "Like the best folktales, Magdalena Zyzak's debut has a rollicking wit and a strange melancholy undertow that pulls you into a dark and deeply imagined world." --Jenny Offill, author of Last Things and The Dept. of Speculation "In her first novel, Polish American author Zyzak serenades her readers with the tale of Barnabas Pierkiel… Zyzak's unique storytelling style evokes the timeless magic of a fairy tale, even as her colorful characters and eye for the absurd break that convention into distinctly modern pieces." Booklist "The book starts with a dirty joke and ends with a bloody battle, and in between lies a great deal of carefully measured absurdist humor…a picaresque novel in the vein of Don Quixote , with shades of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and Nikolai Gogol thrown in…. reads like a better-educated version of a Mel Brooks movie, complete with gypsy curses and Nazis." Kirkus Review "A wild, imaginative farce…Dostoevsky conflated with Woody Allen…It will infuriate as many readers as it delights." -- Publishers Weekly, "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink."-Gary Shteyngart "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer.  The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut." - T.C. Boyle"Like the best folktales, Magdalena Zyzak's debut has a rollicking wit and a strange melancholy undertow that pulls you into a dark and deeply imagined world." - Jenny Offill, The book starts with a dirty joke and ends with a bloody battle, and in between lies a great deal of carefully measured absurdist humor...a picaresque novel in the vein of Don Quixote , with shades of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and Nikolai Gogol thrown in.... reads like a better-educated version of a Mel Brooks movie, complete with gypsy curses and Nazis., [A] twisted folktale... It's often said that during war nations descend into madness, but in Ms. Zyzak's entertaining novel madness is a preexisting condition., A wickedly good debut...[It] shares a fleet-footed, darkly comic spirit with the works of Milan Kundera and Josef Skvorecky, but its real affinities are much older: with the folk tales through which Europe's peasants for centuries expressed their blunt fatalism about political power and human nature...Zyzak's wicked wit expresses a matter-of-fact acceptance of the world as it is, rife with cruelty and suffering, but also with kindness, love and a lot of laughs...Mark Twain, for one, would have thoroughly enjoyed the all-too-human misadventures she describes., A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut., Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink., "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink."-Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story, "A wickedly good debut…[It] shares a fleet-footed, darkly comic spirit with the works of Milan Kundera and Josef Skvorecky, but its real affinities are much older: with the folk tales through which Europe's peasants for centuries expressed their blunt fatalism about political power and human nature…Zyzak's wicked wit expresses a matter-of-fact acceptance of the world as it is, rife with cruelty and suffering, but also with kindness, love and a lot of laughs…Mark Twain, for one, would have thoroughly enjoyed the all-too-human misadventures she describes." - Los Angeles Times "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut." -- T.C. Boyle "Like the best folktales, Magdalena Zyzak's debut has a rollicking wit and a strange melancholy undertow that pulls you into a dark and deeply imagined world." --Jenny Offill, author of Last Things and The Dept. of Speculation "An absurdist page-turner that's also thoroughly human and moving…A good debut novel can deliver a compelling story, well-formed characters, interesting dialogue and a solid thematic punch-but a great debut novel also introduces an unforgettable voice. With The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel , Magdalena Zyzak has done all of the above, creating a modern folktale that's both delightfully strange and remarkably sensitive." - BookPage "In her first novel, Polish American author Zyzak serenades her readers with the tale of Barnabas Pierkiel… Zyzak's unique storytelling style evokes the timeless magic of a fairy tale, even as her colorful characters and eye for the absurd break that convention into distinctly modern pieces." Booklist "The book starts with a dirty joke and ends with a bloody battle, and in between lies a great deal of carefully measured absurdist humor…a picaresque novel in the vein of Don Quixote , with shades of the Marx Brothers, Monty Python and Nikolai Gogol thrown in…. reads like a better-educated version of a Mel Brooks movie, complete with gypsy curses and Nazis." Kirkus Review "A wild, imaginative farce…Dostoevsky conflated with Woody Allen…It will infuriate as many readers as it delights." -- Publishers Weekly "The characters in Polish-born Zyzak's first novel are innocent, racist, religiously pious, and practice infidelity; they're all also one or more cards short of a full deck. The chaos that results is epic and entertaining."- Library Journal, An absurdist page-turner that's also thoroughly human and moving...A good debut novel can deliver a compelling story, well-formed characters, interesting dialogue and a solid thematic punch-but a great debut novel also introduces an unforgettable voice. With The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel, Magdalena Zyzak has done all of the above, creating a modern folktale that's both delightfully strange and remarkably sensitive., "A wild, imaginative farce…Dostoevsky conflated with Woody Allen…It will infuriate as many readers as it delights." -- Publishers Weekly "A rude, lewd, passionate and wildly funny modern folktale, reminiscent of Swift, Garcia-Marquez and Isaac Bashevis Singer. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a stunning debut."--T.C. Boyle "Make way for Magdalena Zyzak! She writes in a way uniquely her own and approaches the English language with the joy and reverence of her countryman Joseph Conrad. The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel is a heady drink." Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story, In her first novel, Polish American author Zyzak serenades her readers with the tale of Barnabas Pierkiel... Zyzak's unique storytelling style evokes the timeless magic of a fairy tale, even as her colorful characters and eye for the absurd break that convention into distinctly modern pieces.
TitleLeading
The
Dewey Edition
23
Dewey Decimal
813/.6
Synopsis
A story of love and adventure in an imaginary Slavic nation on the brink of historic change-the debut of a ribald and raucous new literary voice. Set in the quaint (though admittedly backward) fictional nation of Scalvusia in 1939, The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel follows the exploits of a young swineherd with romantic delusions of grandeur. Desperate to attract the voluptuous Roosha, the Gypsy concubine of the local boot-and-shoe magnate, Barnabas and his short-legged steed Wilhelm get embroiled in a series of scandals and misadventures, as every attempt at wooing ends in catastrophe. After the mysterious death of an important figure in the community, a witch-hunt ensues, and a stranger falls from the sky. Barnabas begins to see the terrible tide of history turning in his beloved hometown. The wonderfully eccentric supporting cast includes a priest driven mad by a fig tree, a gang of louts who taunt our reluctant hero at every turn, and a dim-witted vagabond with a goat for a wife. Even as her characters brush up against one of the darkest moments of the twentieth century, Magdalena Zyzak's humor and prose delight in the absurdities of the human animal., A story of love and adventure in an imaginary Slavic nation on the brink of historic change--the debut of a ribald and raucous new literary voice Set in the quaint (though admittedly backward) fictional nation of Scalvusia in 1939, The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel follows the exploits of a young swineherd with romantic delusions of grandeur. Desperate to attract the voluptuous Roosha, the Gypsy concubine of the local boot-and-shoe magnate, Barnabas and his short-legged steed Wilhelm get embroiled in a series of scandals and misadventures, as every attempt at wooing ends in catastrophe. After the mysterious death of an important figure in the community, a witch-hunt ensues, and a stranger falls from the sky. Barnabas begins to see the terrible tide of history turning in his beloved hometown. The wonderfully eccentric supporting cast includes a priest driven mad by a fig tree, a gang of louts who taunt our reluctant hero at every turn, and a dim-witted vagabond with a goat for a wife. Even as her characters brush up against one of the darkest moments of the twentieth century, Magdalena Zyzak's humor and prose delight in the absurdities of the human animal.
LC Classification Number
PS3626.Y93B35 2014

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