{"product_id":"the-silver-book","title":"The Silver Book","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Silver Book\u003c\/i\u003e is at once a queer love story and a noirish thriller, set in the dream factory of cinema. It’s a fictional account of real things, and an investigation into the difficult relationship between artifice and truth, illusion and reality, love and power.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt is September 1974. Two men meet by chance in Venice. One is a young English artist, in panicked flight from London. The other is Danilo Donati, the magician of Italian cinema, the designer responsible for realising the spectacular visions of Fellini and Pasolini. Donati is in Venice to produce sketches for Fellini’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eCasanova\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. A young – and beautiful – apprentice is just what he needs.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHe sweeps Nicholas to Rome, into the looking-glass world of Cinecittà, the studio where Casanova’s Venice will be ingeniously assembled. Then in the spring, the lovers move together to the set of \u003ci\u003eSalò\u003c\/i\u003e, Pasolini’s horrifying fable of fascism.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut Nicholas has a secret and in this world of constant illusion, his real nature passes unseen. Amidst the rising tensions of Italy’s ‘Years of Lead’, he acts as an accelerant, setting in motion a tragedy he didn’t intend.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOlivia Laing\u003c\/strong\u003e is an internationally acclaimed writer and critic. They’re the author of eight books, including \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Lonely City\u003c\/span\u003e,\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003e Everybody\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e and the \u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/span\u003e number one bestseller\u003cstrong\u003e \u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Garden Against Time\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e. Laing’s first novel, \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eCrudo\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and in 2018 they were awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for non-fiction. They are an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Arts and their books have been translated into twenty-one languages.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHardback, 288 pages\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55699357466997,"sku":"20364","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0840\/9833\/files\/silverbook.jpg?v=1753872079","url":"https:\/\/shop.barbican.org.uk\/products\/the-silver-book","provider":"Barbican Shop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}