{"product_id":"9781640097056","title":"The Royal Free: A Novel","description":"\u003ctable\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor\/Contributor(s):\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003eShuker, Carl\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCounterpoint\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDate:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e6\/17\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBinding:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003ePaperback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"\"\u003eNEW\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn exuberant dark comedy about dying young, parenting through grief, and the full-on hilarity of copyediting a medical journal while the city around you burns\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJames Ballard is a recently widowed father to a baby daughter. And he is a copy editor tasked with saving the \u003ci\u003eRoyal London Journal of Medicine\u003c\/i\u003e from the mistakes no one else notices—misplaced apostrophes, Freudian misspellings, the wrong influenza strain. This job is utterly boring but—he tells himself—totally crucial. \u003ci\u003eThe Royal London\u003c\/i\u003e is a stronghold of care for the human body and a bastion of humanism in a disintegrating world. In London, outside the office, the prognosis for the body politic is grim: there are riots in the streets. While attempting to balance a six-month-old baby, his grief, and his work with a cast of mad and lovably eccentric medical editors, he finds himself the target of a violent gang of North London teenagers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEqual parts workplace comedy, home invasion thriller, and literary conundrum,\u003ci\u003e The Royal Free\u003c\/i\u003e is vastly entertaining while also offering a lament for the unbearable, nearly unspeakable nature of a death that comes too soon.","brand":"Counterpoint","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46202687258879,"sku":"9781640097056","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0452\/0886\/2873\/files\/9781640097056_s600x595.jpg?v=1775595693","url":"https:\/\/massivebookshop.com\/de\/products\/9781640097056","provider":"MASSIVE BOOKSHOP","version":"1.0","type":"link"}