{"product_id":"empty-theatre","title":"Empty Theatre [Paperback]","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy Jac Jemc\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003e\"\u003c\/span\u003eModern and mythic, \u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eEmpty Theatre\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e captures the outrageous taste of an era while measuring the steep costs of our dream worlds.\"\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e―\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eKaty Simpson Smith, \u003cem\u003ethe \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Surreal, witty, tongue-in-cheek, and distinctly singular, just like the subjects whose life it covers, this is not your mother’s historical fiction. Buckle up for a wild ride, and enjoy every second of it.\"\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e―David Vogel, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eBuzzFeed News\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"...one of the most engrossing and entertaining historical novels in recent memory.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e―Seth Combs,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe San Diego Union Tribune\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA wildly over-the-top social satire reimagining the mad misadventures of the iconic royal cousins King Ludwig and Empress Sisi, from the incomparable Jac Jemc.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHistory knows them as King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Empress Elizabeth of Austria, icons of the late nineteenth century who died young and left behind magnificent portraits and palaces. But to each other they were Ludwig and Sisi, cousins who shared a passion for beauty and a stubborn refusal to submit to the roles imposed upon them.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLudwig, simultaneously spoiled and punished for his softness and “unmanly” interests, falls hard for the operas of Richard Wagner and neglects his state duties in the pursuit of art. Sisi, married at the age of sixteen to her beloved Franzl, bristles at the restrictions of her elevated position, the value placed on her beauty, and the simultaneous expectation that she ravage her body again and again in childbirth. Both absurdly vain, both traumatized by the demands of their roles, Sisi and Ludwig struggle against the ideals they are expected to embody, and resist through extravagance, petulance, performance, and frivolity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA tragicomic tour de force, \u003cem\u003eEmpty Theatre\u003c\/em\u003e immerses readers in Ludwig and Sisi’s rarefied, ridiculous, restrictive world—where the aesthetics of excess belie the isolation of its inhabitants. With wit, pathos, and imagination, Jac Jemc takes us on an unforgettable journey through two extraordinary parallel lives and the complex, tenuous friendship that links them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePaperback\u003cbr\u003e464 pages\u003cbr\u003ePicador Paper, 2024\u003cbr\u003e4.9 x 1.2 x 7.9 inches\u003cbr\u003eISBN 9781250872180\u003cbr\u003eAustrian Historical Fiction, Literature\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"vendor-unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47086778220712,"sku":"9781250872180","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0175\/8594\/files\/Jemc_Empty-Theatre-Paperback.jpg?v=1710090252","url":"https:\/\/neue-galerie-design-shop.myshopify.com\/products\/empty-theatre","provider":"Neue Galerie Design Shop \u0026 Book Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}