{"product_id":"fair-play-new-york-review-books-classics","title":"Fair Play","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSynopsis\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eFair Play\u003c\/em\u003e, Tove Jansson offers an intimate portrait of a long creative partnership between two women, Mari, a writer, and Jonna, an artist. They live in separate apartments at opposite ends of the same building, connected by an attic passageway that becomes a physical and symbolic link between their independent lives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRather than following a conventional plot, the novel unfolds through seventeen luminous episodes drawn from the women's everyday existence. They argue about art, watch films, travel, work on their respective projects, spend time together on a remote island, and occasionally retreat into solitude. Their relationship is built not on constant closeness but on an unusual respect for each other's independence, creativity, and need for space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJansson is particularly interested in the relationship between art and ordinary life. Conversations about books, films, painting, memory, and work become ways for Mari and Jonna to negotiate love and friendship without sentimentality. Their lives are deeply intertwined, yet neither woman is required to surrender her individuality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in Swedish as \u003cem\u003eRent spel\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFair Play\u003c\/em\u003e is one of Jansson's most personal works for adults. Tender, witty, and perceptive, it is a distinctive love story about companionship, artistic freedom, aging, and the pleasures of sharing a life without possessing another person. This NYRB Classics edition includes an introduction by Ali Smith and Thomas Teal's award-winning translation from the Swedish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTove Jansson (1914–2001) was a Finnish-Swedish writer, artist, illustrator, and painter. She is best known internationally as the creator of the Moomins, but she also produced a substantial body of work for adults, including novels and short stories concerned with art, relationships, solitude, family, and the natural world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJansson was also a celebrated visual artist. She studied art in Stockholm and Paris and worked as an illustrator and political cartoonist before creating the Moomins. Her adult fiction includes \u003cem\u003eThe Summer Book\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe True Deceiver\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eSun City\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eFair Play\u003c\/em\u003e. She lived for many years with the artist Tuulikki Pietilä, who provided inspiration for the relationship between Mari and Jonna.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThomas Teal is an award-winning translator of Swedish literature. His translation of \u003cem\u003eFair Play\u003c\/em\u003e received the Bernard Shaw Prize for Translation for 2007–2009.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAli Smith is a Scottish novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and essayist whose introduction accompanies this edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNew York Review Books Classics\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarch 15, 2011\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFormat\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaperback\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePages\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e120\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSubjects\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLiterary Fiction; LGBTQ+ Fiction; Lesbian Fiction; Women; Female Friendship; Artists; Writers; Creativity; Love; Relationships; Finnish Literature; Swedish Literature; Fiction in Translation\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eISBN\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e9781590173787\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Old Post Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45397569339574,"sku":"9781590173787","price":22.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0731\/2264\/4150\/files\/9781590173787.jpg?v=1788275935","url":"https:\/\/oldpostbookshop.com\/products\/fair-play-new-york-review-books-classics","provider":"Old Post Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}