{ "item_title" : "The Quest", "item_author" : [" Pío Baroja "], "item_description" : "In Madrid, even refuse may be granted another use; for the people living beside it, renewal is far less certain. This realist social novel follows Manuel Alc zar, a young migrant worker from Soria, as poverty and precarious labour expose him to sharply competing versions of urban existence. Regular employment promises survival at the cost of exhausting work, while theft and marginality offer an apparent independence shadowed by violence, exploitation and exclusion. Across its three-part structure, the novel enters the overcrowded housing and poor districts that respectable society overlooks. Manuel's time in a shoemaker's workshop and his contact with criminal circles place labour and lawlessness in uneasy proximity, revealing how environment narrows the choices available to those without security. Street commerce, begging, prostitution and gambling belong to the same social landscape, where limited charity cannot undo the pressures that shape daily life. Discarded materials recur as more than the debris of the city: reclaimed and returned to use, they form a striking counterpoint to people struggling to regenerate their own lives. The novel's extensive portrayal of marginalised communities keeps questions of dignity, independence and exploitation grounded in material conditions rather than easy moral judgement. Its urban poverty is shown through work, commerce, crime and survival, creating a searching account of lives pushed beyond social protection. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions. It has been restored for today's and future generations. This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers3.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/9/37/778/771/9377787718_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "23.99", "online_price" : "23.99", "our_price" : "23.99", "club_price" : "23.99", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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