{"product_id":"the-smiths-meat-is-murder-by-joe-pernice-9780826414946","title":"The Smiths' Meat is Murder","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA Catholic high school near Boston in 1985. A time of suicides, gymnasium humiliations, smoking for beginners, asthma attacks, and incendiary teenage infatuations. Infatuations with a girl (Allison), with a band (The Smiths), and with an album, \u003ci\u003eMeat is Murder\u003c\/i\u003e, that was so raw, so vivid, and so melodic that you could cling to it like a lifeboat in a storm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn this brilliant novella, Joe Pernice tells the story of an asthmatic kid's discovery of \u003ci\u003eMeat is Murder\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHere is a short excerpt:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne morning as I was jogging my way past the bronze plaque commemorating the deaths of one student and one motorcyclist, my necktie flapping like a windsock, Ray floored the brake pedal of his Dodge as he closed in on me. Fifty-mile-an-hour traffic came to a screeching, nearly murderous halt behind him. He leaned over and rolled down the passenger side window in one fluid motion. He dispensed with formalities while I marveled at the audacity of his driving and, tossing something at me, winked and said, \"Here. I'm going to kill myself.\" He pegged the gas, leaving a surprisingly good patch of rubber for such a shitty car. In the gutter, sugared with sand put down during the winter's last snow, I saw written in red felt ink on masking tape stuck to a smoky-clear cassette: \"\u003ci\u003eSmiths: Meat\u003c\/i\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47433042559212,"sku":"9780826414946","price":21.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780826414946.jpg?v=1774765710","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/the-smiths-meat-is-murder-by-joe-pernice-9780826414946","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}