{"product_id":"the-flower-show-and-the-toth-family-paperback","title":"The Flower Show and the Toth Family - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eIstván Örkény\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Flower Show and The Toth Family\u003c\/em\u003e, two novellas in one volume by Istv n  rk ny (1912-79), introduce to an English-speaking audience a Hungarian writer with a keen sense of the absurdities of modern life. In the '60s and '70s,  rk ny's vein of black comedy earned him the epithet \"master of the grotesque\" for the popular dramatizations of these and other novels. \u003cem\u003eThe Flower Show\u003c\/em\u003e (1977) is  rk ny's last novel and his most widely translated work of fiction. With consummate irony, the author exploits our universal unease in the face of death, the desire to \"star\" taken to its ultimate absurdity by playing the lead in one's own demise, and the voyeurism of the modern media. In \u003cem\u003eThe Toth Family \u003c\/em\u003e(1967) a mad army major on leave terrorizes a village fireman and his family, forcing them to cut and fold endless quantities of cardboard packing boxes every night until dawn. Originally written as a film script, the novel's scenes flicker past in lunatic array as  rk ny satirizes Hungary of the early '40s and the acquiescence of a quasi-feudal, nationalistic, caste-ridden society to the authoritarian state of Nazi Germany. The impression is as if the Marx Brothers had been born out of \u003cem\u003eDr. Strangelove\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book contains two novellas in one volume by Istvan Orkeny. In the Flower Show (1977)--the author exploits our universal unease in the face of death, the desire to 'star' taken to its ultimate absurdity by playing the lead in one's own demise, and the voyeurism of the modern media. In the Toth Family (1967), a mad army major on leave terrorizes a village fireman and his family, forcing them to cut and fold endless quantities of cardboard packing boxes every night until dawn.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 176\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.47 x 7.93 x 5.22 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 17, 2010\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52151680565479,"sku":"9780811208376","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0793\/8329\/8279\/files\/b366ba896e8701303251b171c4b5d7f6.webp?v=1780428049","url":"https:\/\/skinnonsmooth.myshopify.com\/products\/the-flower-show-and-the-toth-family-paperback","provider":"SkinnOnSmooth","version":"1.0","type":"link"}