{"product_id":"the-elephants-mouth-paperback","title":"The Elephant's Mouth - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLuke Stromberg\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLuke Stromberg is an autobiographical poet, but instead of being confined to the past, his best narratives deliver enough metaphoric lift to transmute them into poetry. I'm remembering his shadow being \"a movie on the wall;\" tombstones as \"baby teeth;\" and days that \"pile up like dishes in the sink.\" \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Elephant's Mouth\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e is a noteworthy debut.\u003cbr\u003e-Billy Collins\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eImagine Philip Larkin pulling up a stool in Edward Hopper's \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eNighthawks, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e and you'd have a fair picture of Luke Stromberg's poems. Whether at home, in the classroom, or out on the streets of middle-class America, these speakers feel like spectators watching their own shadows \"like a movie on a wall.\" Stromberg's formally dexterous poems explore family history, apocalyptic fantasies, thwarted lusts, and the acute agony of ordinary loneliness. \"I feel like the understudy for myself,\" he writes in one poem. If you've ever felt like your own understudy-and honestly, who hasn't?-you should read this book.\u003cbr\u003e-Juliana Gray\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLuke Stromberg is not afraid to place his head inside the elephant's mouth-such pluck, it turns out, is his birthright. His poems peer into the maw of threat and loss, disappointment and unhappy endings, while never wavering in their compassion for the beleaguered, never declaring themselves apart or above-perhaps the bravest act of all for a poet. In his humane portraits, the denizens of Upper Darby, PA (our \u003ci\u003es\u003ci\u003eemblables!\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e) are \"set apart for something special, \/ Blessed by [the] distinction\" of being truly seen and, once seen, loved. A marvelous and heartbreaking debut!\u003cbr\u003e-David Yezzi\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 98\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.23 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 14, 2022\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47444246233266,"sku":"9781639801602","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/66257bc387593bd7b2f560adfd26a962.webp?v=1778701471","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/the-elephants-mouth-paperback","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}