{"product_id":"book-of-the-edge","title":"Book of the Edge","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTranslated with an Introduction by Deniz Perin\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEce Temelkuran is arguably Turkey’s most accomplished young writer. Born 1973 in Turkey, she has published eight books of poetry, prose, and nonfiction. An award-winning daily columnist for \u003cem\u003eMilliyet\u003c\/em\u003e, she was 2008 Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. In \u003cem\u003eBook of the Edge\u003c\/em\u003e, Temelkuran describes an allegorical journey wherein the speaker, or explorer, encounters strange creatures, including a butterfly, bull, swordfish, sow bug, and cruel city dwellers. These poems point to the undeniable connection between all living beings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“\u003c\/span\u003eOffering\u003cspan\u003e”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eYou are earth. You lie beneath everything.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eEverything is above you. Even the earth’s crust.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eYou are water.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eYou are afraid of—and for—the stones you will strike as you flow.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eYou stop for fear that the stone’s skin be scraped.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eGo on, flow.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eYou’ll stop if the stone bleeds.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eIf you fear pain, you’ll exhaust yourself.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eYou are air. Wind curves inside you.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWhereas you are invisible.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eBlow.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eEven if no trace of you remains, plane trees remember every breeze.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eO reader! Me? I am like this, too.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eI may not know it yet:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eI am just like you.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eYou must believe me, believe people.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eFor there are no kindhearted gods!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eAnd that is why, though we may be\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWater, earth, air, and we may each be a universe,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eWe appear as somebody among the crowds.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eSo now,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eFrom here, you can set out again, on your own journey.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch4\u003ePraise for \u003cem\u003eBook of the Edge\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“\u003c\/span\u003eThe poems in \u003cem\u003eBook of the Edge\u003c\/em\u003e are not overtly political. Some are not political at all. Those that make political statements do so in an understated, allegorical way. Temelkuran’s goal in these poems is to explore the human condition, exposing our weaknesses and our potential. But her insight into, and interpretation of, this human condition are undoubtedly inspired, at least in part, by her socially-involved upbringing and her many years of work as a journalist.\u003cspan\u003e”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“\u003c\/span\u003eThe book is, to use Baudelaire’s words, an invitation to a voyage. The speaker asks the reader to become an explorer, to leave the city and embark upon a journey of self-discovery. Although each poem stands alone, the poems work together to describe this quest; they turn into a modern, poetic fable, in which speaker, explorer, and reader merge into one. ‘You may not know it yet,’ says the speaker in the prologue, a wink at what is to come. ‘You are just like me.’”\u003cstrong\u003e—Deniz Perin, from the Introduction\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch6\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/h6\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e© BOA Editions, Ltd. 2010\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions, Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":8420076229,"sku":"9781934414361","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0982\/0178\/products\/BOOK_OF_THE_EDGE.jpg?v=1527683188","url":"https:\/\/shop.boaeditions.org\/products\/book-of-the-edge","provider":"Boa Editions","version":"1.0","type":"link"}