{"product_id":"and","title":"And","description":"\u003cp\u003eThrough Michael Blumenthal’s eyes we gain a renewed, childlike wonder at everything from plants, trees, and relationships, to the most fundamental word in our vocabulary: AND. Blumenthal uses the conjunction—AND—to unify this new collection and to create an incantatory, sonorous rhythm to his work. The result is a book of poems-as-hymns-and-praises.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003eAnd The Small, Cantilevered Emblems of The Hills May Be in Vain\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStillness has its own ethos: a bird, terrified, on \u003cbr\u003eits branch, does not tell jokes. But the human world   \u003cbr\u003eis filled with farts and cat-calls, with the bombast\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eof too many syllables uttered in vain, and how   \u003cbr\u003eshall we demonstrate to the hills that we are serious   \u003cbr\u003ein our self-importance, that we have been singing,\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eall these years, for the mere pleasure of listening   \u003cbr\u003eto our own voices? Slowly the river runs   \u003cbr\u003ebetween the beeches and oaks, the willow quivers\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein the slightest of winds, and everywhere we look   \u003cbr\u003esomething is beseeching us: silence silence   \u003cbr\u003eamid the deep, dismissive susurrus of the trees.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003ePraise for the collection\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Few new books of American poems have more unity—or more happiness—than the latest from Blumenthal: the law professor, memoirist, novelist (\u003cem\u003eDusty Angel\u003c\/em\u003e) and psychotherapist has set himself the daunting task of depicting joy in all its varieties.” \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Not since T.S. Eliot's \u003cem\u003eFour Quartets\u003c\/em\u003e has an American poet been able to combine so seamlessly the quest of the visionary with the beatific reality of a fallen yet redeemed humanity. These ambitious poems promise to unlock the spiritual potential of each and every modern reader. As such, they deserve to be read and read again.” —\u003cem\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Montserrat Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Blumenthal's new collection of poems, titled \u003cem\u003eAnd\u003c\/em\u003e, is the closest that the stoicism of Ecclesiastes will come to getting a 21st-century makeover. In it, there's a time to laugh and cry, scatter stones and gather them up, and all the rest.” \u003cb\u003e—\u003cem\u003eThe Jewish Daily Forward\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch6\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003ch6\u003e© BOA Editions, Ltd. 2009\u003c\/h6\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions, Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":8419982021,"sku":"9781934414217","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback (Signed)","offer_id":12462817050705,"sku":"9781934414218","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/products\/AND.jpg?v=1527683169","url":"https:\/\/shop.boaeditions.org\/products\/and","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}