{"product_id":"playing-with-mischief-paperback","title":"Playing with Mischief - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eH. A. Willis\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn an Australian country town in the mid-1960s, a couple of adolescent boys are busy experimenting with incendiary devices while their town, including their school, is suffering a series of arson attacks. Are the boys responsible? At least, in part? Or is there something larger afoot? And how did it all go so dreadfully wrong?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeanwhile, in a small city not far away, another group of boys, somehow connected to those in the other place, get up to their own mischief playing with fire. This, too, with a whiff of the infernal, goes badly.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe interlocking stories of \u003cem\u003ePlaying with Mischief \u003c\/em\u003eare an exercise in smoke and mirrors. Along with real smoke, of which there is plenty, the stories are infused with a figurative smoke that obscures who is responsible for what. As to mirrors, consider the manner in which the diverse perspectives of these stories reflect back through one another. And then, beyond such obvious references, we should consider fiction's overarching artifice, in which Willis saw an affinity to the legerdemain of fairground magicians, the archetypical practitioners of smoke and mirrors.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003e \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePlaying with Mischief \u003c\/em\u003e(the title itself suggests an alternative: \u003cem\u003e Playing with Fire\u003c\/em\u003e) is also an exercise in stylistic variation. The paired novellas, \u003cem\u003eMischief\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eFires\u003c\/em\u003e, third and first person narratives respectively, are bookended by the shorter pieces, \u003cem\u003eInvocation\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Exercise Book\u003c\/em\u003e, distinctly at opposite ends of the stylistic spectrum. These different, to some extent contending voices enhance the basic mirroring effect between the competing narratives. Or, to shift the metaphor, they create a space in which whispered implications echo.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn invocation of a world gone by, a world in which ghosts still wandered foggy streets and sometimes it was better to consult a priest than a doctor.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAn Australian country town in the mid-1960s.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTeenage boys playing with guns and gunpowder.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA series of suspicious fires.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhere the fuse led was clear, but who struck the match was not so evident.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfterword by Josephine Tey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 160\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.37 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 21, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48330049323257,"sku":"9780645188424","price":20.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/zaBjWWXjq-9780645188424.webp?v=1777366810","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/playing-with-mischief-paperback","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}