{"product_id":"pageant-of-the-masters-by-steven-belletto","title":"Pageant of the Masters by Steven Belletto","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vineleavespress.myshopify.com\/products\/pageant-of-the-masters-by-steven-belletto-ebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTO PURCHASE THE EBOOK CLICK HERE\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWelcome \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eto the spectacle at the end of everything.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Brilliantly crafted stories of well-traveled characters runs a thread of compassion for our common vulnerability, as if there must always be a baby in any boat dangerously near tipping\u003c\/strong\u003e.” Lee Upton, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Withers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Steven Belletto’s wholly original collection, \u003cem\u003ePageant of the Masters,\u003c\/em\u003e each story is a world unto itself, populated by eccentrics struggling to survive amid the ruins of late capitalism. Living on the fraying edges of reality—much like the culture around them—these characters are anxious, manic, deluded, and unmistakably human.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA young professional spends a weekend checking on his survivalist uncle in a booby-trapped cabin deep in the woods, only to be drawn into the older man's paranoid universe. A fiftyish California entrepreneur hatches a plan to save her failing art gallery by turning it into a reality TV show, traumatizing her daughter in the process. A washed-up installation artist wages a one-sided war against his sworn rival from the jungles of Central America. Elsewhere, wives hire escorts for their husbands, young men become obsessed with local water superintendents, henchmen revolt, and babies are set adrift on boats. Such is the Pageant of the Masters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith a sharp eye for the absurdities and strange obsessions of contemporary culture, Belletto takes readers from West Hollywood to Guatemala, the Congo, and Bhutan, exploring the limits of what it means to be human. These stories navigate a world tangled in political and economic pressures, where romantic relationships, family bonds, and friendships are pushed to their breaking points.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e_______________\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePub date: 3-Nov-2026\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePage count: 354\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eISBN: 978-3-98832-275-3\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Vine Leaves Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58644920009029,"sku":"9783988322753","price":19.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0810\/2366\/4453\/files\/PageantoftheMasters3D.png?v=1784706715","url":"https:\/\/vineleavespress.myshopify.com\/products\/pageant-of-the-masters-by-steven-belletto","provider":"Vine Leaves Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}