{"product_id":"dybbuk-americana-hardcover","title":"Dybbuk Americana - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJoshua Gottlieb-Miller\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eInventive poetry explores Jewish identity in America\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How can I teach a prayer \/ I only know how to recite?\" \"America, whose death \/ didn't you come from?\" These are some of the questions that poet Joshua Gottlieb-Miller wrestles with in his beautiful, gripping new collection. By turns experimental and documentary, \u003ci\u003eDybbuk Americana\u003c\/i\u003e draws out the questions around Jewish identity in the United States, and what it means to pass on Jewish identity to one's child. This hybrid text draws on art, mysticism, and history, taking the dybbuk, a figure from Jewish folklore, as its central metaphor. A dybbuk is a restless spirit who inhabits another's body, and as a possessing spirit the dybbuk is often treated as a demonic force, but it can be read as merely trying to climb the ladder of the afterlife. In other words, a kind of striver. Enacting the idea of competing selves in one body, \u003ci\u003e Dybbuk Americana\u003c\/i\u003e plays with form via a series of text boxes that create a multi-channel effect on the page. The body of the poem can be read with surrounding and intercutting text boxes to generate multiple interpretations. This innovative poetic technique maintains a dialogue with Jewish literary lineages: Talmudic commentary and interpretation of the oral law, as well as the fragmented nature of geniza, a place where Jews store sacred documents when they fall out of use.\u003ci\u003e Dybbuk Americana\u003c\/i\u003e weaves together the father-son arc within a larger socio-political commentary and historical narrative. Poems move deftly between the ironic and the mystic, from aphoristic questioning and inventive narratives, to interview, oral history, and archival materials. In these lines, \"the angels.\/ They get as close as they can.\" Witty, curious, warm, and searching, \u003ci\u003eDybbuk Americana\u003c\/i\u003e signals a fresh voice in Jewish-American poetry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e[sample text]\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAIN MIGRATION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt took ten men\u003cbr\u003eto make a minyan, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ebut only one name\u003cbr\u003eof G-d for us to share, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eso we settled on\u003cbr\u003eAmerica, one by one, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ewe settled on America, \u003cbr\u003eman and woman.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy grandfather\u003cbr\u003eearned his way over\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eshoveling coal\u003cbr\u003ein the hold of a boat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGrandmother sewed\u003cbr\u003egold into her coat. In secret\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethey sewed, they sold, \u003cbr\u003ethey glowed. I dream of\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003egold. G-d's name in gold\u003cbr\u003emilked and honeyed\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ein the dust\u003cbr\u003ebeneath our boots--\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eour dust. And when they made\u003cbr\u003ea minyan and didn't\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003erealize it? And when\u003cbr\u003ethey married in\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eand didn't realize it?\u003cbr\u003eNo matter: they sewed, \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethey sold, they glowed.\u003cbr\u003eYes, they sold\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003etheir solid gold, sold gold\u003cbr\u003einto gold, sewed gold\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003etogether into dust.\u003cbr\u003eWhen I was born\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ethey gave me\u003cbr\u003ea dead man's name.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut that's true\u003cbr\u003efor everyone.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJOSHUA GOTTLIEB-MILLER is the author of\u003ci\u003e The Art of Bagging\u003c\/i\u003e (2023) and serves on the faculty at San Jacinto College. His work has also been published in \u003ci\u003eBrooklyn Rail\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Image\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePoet Lore\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Pleiades\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBreaking the Glass: A Contemporary Jewish Poetry Anthology\u003c\/i\u003e, among others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 120\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.63 x 10.08 x 7.87 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 17, 2024\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47459284811954,"sku":"9780819501158","price":29.16,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/60ad344cc8f66430363f596ba9d0c36f_04e3d359-5fb3-4575-bdff-cb31bff39f2e.webp?v=1778900662","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/dybbuk-americana-hardcover","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}