{"product_id":"the-material-by-camille-bordas-9781805220060","title":"The Material","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eUtterly charming ... Bordas is an invaluable new voice\u003c\/em\u003e - George Saunders\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA disquisition into the nature of comedy and creativity. Like the best comedians ... Bordas is alert to the deeper joke\u003c\/em\u003e - Sunday Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAmusing... impressive\u003c\/em\u003e - New York Times\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMarvellously engaging and entertaining ... full of terrific moments and cutting dialogue\u003c\/em\u003e - Independent\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEvery comedian knows that there's a line between sharp and cruel, that sad becomes funny at the right angle, and that any moment in life, however painful or triumphant, has the potential to become a punchline. At the Chicago Stand-up School, success is about the material. But maybe Artie is too handsome to be taken seriously on stage, Olivia too scared to examine her past, and Phil too afraid to cause harm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTheir teachers are obsessed with failure: Kruger trying to command his father's respect, Ashbee weary of the way his Blackness attracts a type of white admirer, and Dorothy wondering how her talent is connected to her loneliness. Whether a visiting comedian—the famous, controversy-steeped Manny Reinhardt—will do more to help or to harm their cause remains to be seen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSet over the course of a single day, and shifting exquisitely between several points of view, \u003cem\u003eThe Material\u003c\/em\u003e examines life through the eyes of a band of outsiders bound together by the need to laugh, and the desire to make others laugh even harder.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46555255701740,"sku":"9781805220060","price":36.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/20214903482830.jpg?v=1750099605","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/products\/the-material-by-camille-bordas-9781805220060","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}