{"title":"Ferdia Lennon","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFerdia Lennon\u003c\/strong\u003e crafts compelling narratives that weave everyday moments with deeper emotional truths. His works, such as \u003cem\u003eGlorious Exploits\u003c\/em\u003e, invite readers into richly drawn lives where introspection and subtle storytelling converge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFans of thoughtful \u003cem\u003egeneral fiction\u003c\/em\u003e will appreciate Lennon's ability to explore human nature with nuance and warmth, making each story feel both personal and universal.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"glorious-exploits","title":"Glorious Exploits","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn exhilarating and fiercely original story of brotherhood, war and art, set in ancient Sicily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo Gelon says to me, 'Let's go down and feed the Athenians. The weather's perfect for feeding Athenians.'\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt's 412 BC, and Athens' invasion of Sicily has failed catastrophically. Thousands of Athenian soldiers are held captive in the quarries of Syracuse, starving, dejected and hanging on by the slimmest of threads.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLampo and Gelon are local potters, young men with no work and barely two obols to rub together. With not much to fill their time, they take to visiting the nearby quarry, where they discover prisoners who will, in desperation, recite lines from the plays of Euripides in return for scraps of bread and a scattering of olives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so an idea is born—the men will put on \u003cem\u003eMedea\u003c\/em\u003e in the quarry. A proper performance to be sung of down the ages. Because after all, you can hate the Athenians for invading your territory, but still love their poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut as the performance draws near and the audacity of their enterprise dawns on them, it becomes difficult to distinguish between enemies and friends. And Lampo, whose ambitions have never stretched beyond having enough coin for the next jug of wine, finds his aspirations elevated, his heart entangled, and his courage tested in ways he could never have imagined.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGlorious Exploits\u003c\/em\u003e is an exhilarating and fiercely original story of brotherhood, war and art; and—in the face of the Gods' apparent indifference—of daring to dream of something bigger than ourselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45691964555500,"sku":"9780241667224","price":37.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780241667224.jpg?v=1725550474"},{"product_id":"glorious-exploits-by-ferdia-lennon-9780241998007","title":"Glorious Exploits","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e'One of the most original and brilliant debuts in years' \u003cem\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn exhilarating and fiercely original story of brotherhood, war, and art, set in ancient Sicily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAncient Sicily. Enter GELON – visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO – lovesick, jobless, in need of a distraction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eImprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey're fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost – they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt's audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat could possibly go wrong?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46491951890668,"sku":"9780241998007","price":23.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/3693613482274.jpg?v=1748413205"},{"product_id":"glorious-exploits-by-ferdia-lennon-9781250893680","title":"Glorious Exploits","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eWinner of the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for Newcomer of the Year by the Irish Book Awards\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the Nero Book Awards Debut Fiction Prize\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eShortlisted for the British Book Award for Debut Fiction Book of the Year\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eLonglisted for the Carnegie Medal of Excellence\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNamed a Best Book of 2024 by \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e, and the New York Public Library\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAn utterly original celebration of that which binds humanity across battle lines and history.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the island of Sicily amid the Peloponnesian War, the Syracusans have figured out what to do with the surviving Athenians who had the gall to invade their city: they've herded the sorry prisoners of war into a rock quarry and left them to rot. Looking for a way to pass the time, Lampo and Gelon, two unemployed potters with a soft spot for poetry and drink, head down into the quarry to feed the Athenians if, and only if, they can manage a few choice lines from their great playwright Euripides. Before long, the two mates hatch a plan to direct a full-blown production of \u003ci\u003eMedea\u003c\/i\u003e. After all, you can hate the people but love their art. But as opening night approaches, what started as a lark quickly sets in motion a series of extraordinary events, and our wayward heroes begin to realise that staging a play can be as dangerous as fighting a war, with all sorts of risks to life, limb, and friendship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTold in a contemporary Irish voice and as riotously funny as it is deeply moving, \u003ci\u003eGlorious Exploits\u003c\/i\u003e is an unforgettable ode to the power of art in a time of war, brotherhood in a time of enmity, and human will throughout the ages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47934045094124,"sku":"9781250893680","price":51.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781250893680-glorious-exploits.jpg?v=1783892452"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/ferdia-lennon.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}