{"product_id":"afterburn-blake-morrison-9781784746032","title":"Afterburn","description":"\u003cb\u003e'Lucid, tender and humane . . . One of the most formally agile and compassionate poets of our age' Fiona Benson\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eHere you are, on the balcony, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ethe sea serenading you, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ethe sun with its armful of light.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eAfterburn\u003c\/i\u003e, Blake Morrison returns to poetry, his first calling, to offers scenes from his own life and the lives of others. In psychology, 'afterburn' refers to the time before a past event is assimilated - an idea that resonates through these poems (which themselves linger after reading) about memory and our attempts to articulate, shape or contain it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThroughout the collection, not least in two extraordinary sequences - one about his sister, the other about Elizabeth Bishop - the poet sees with new eyes the turning points in a life's accidental course. What holds his wise, touching, melancholy yet joyful poems together are the small intimacies that bind us to others, under time's lengthening shadow: 'you moved too fast for me to catch you \/ and so did the years.' \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePlayful and charming, sometimes rakishly so, \u003ci\u003eAfterburn\u003c\/i\u003e nevertheless reveals an open, and vulnerable, heart.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e*** \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Distils the insights of a seasoned memoirist into images that linger long after the final page' Julia Copus\u003cbr\u003e'A master of the sonnet . . . I'm taking \u003ci\u003eAfterburn\u003c\/i\u003e to my desert island' Hugo Williams\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Blake Morrison\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1784746037\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781784746032\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Chatto \u0026amp; Windus\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/28\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 80\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.81lbs","brand":"Blake Morrison","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48114062786815,"sku":"9781784746032","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_a44f20b6-3651-4a3b-8a37-14a30bfba0a4.jpg?v=1769618871","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/afterburn-blake-morrison-9781784746032","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}