{"product_id":"13th-balloon-mark-bibbins-9781556595776","title":"13th Balloon","description":"\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eO, The Oprah Magazine, \u003c\/em\u003e \"42 Best LGBTQ Books of 2020\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cstrong\u003eNPR's Favorite Books of 2020 \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e In his fourth collection, \u003cem\u003e13th Balloon, \u003c\/em\u003e Mark Bibbins turns his candid eye to the American AIDS crisis. With quiet consideration and dark wit, Bibbins addresses the majority of his poems to Mark Crast, his friend and lover who died from AIDS at the early age of 25. Every broken line and startling linguistic turn grapples with the genre of elegy: what does it mean to experience personal loss, Bibbins seems to ask, amidst a greater societal tragedy? The answer is blurred-- amongst unforeseen disease, intolerance, and the intimate consequences of mismanaged power. Perhaps the most unanswerable question arrives when Bibbins writes, \"For me elegy\/ is like a Ouija planchette\/ something I can barely touch\/ as I try to make it\/ say what I want it to say.\" And while we are still searching for the words that might begin an answer, Bibbins helps us understand that there is endless value in continuing--through both joy and grief--to wonder.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Mark Bibbins\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1556595778\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781556595776\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Copper Canyon Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/11\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 80\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.80w x 0.50d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/18\/2019","brand":"Mark Bibbins","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44048821092607,"sku":"9781556595776","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_36535e2f-60e5-4257-8c96-290dd0756085.jpg?v=1684998015","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/13th-balloon-mark-bibbins-9781556595776","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}