{"product_id":"an-oar-for-odysseus-robert-cooperman-9798901467053","title":"An Oar for Odysseus","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn Oar for Odysseus, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eRobert Cooperman mines the Homeric epics for more gold. Finally back home in Ithaca from the Trojan War, his country and his family in shambles, Odysseus embarks upon another voyage. Only this time, his son, Telemachus, and his wife, Penelope, the Jocasta to her son's would-be Oedipus, are behind Odysseus' exile. Where he finally ends up and the odyssey he undertakes are the ingots of Cooperman's vivid imagination. As Penelope muses in her final poem in \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn Oar for Odysseus, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \"his fate is a constant quest.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e-\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eCharles Rammelkamp\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, author, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Tao According to Calvin Coolidge\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn Oar for Odysseus, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e Robert Cooperman's blazing, 21st Century poetic rendering of the Greek myth post-\u003ci\u003enostros, \u003c\/i\u003e the poems carry the reader along with propulsive force - from Telemachus exiling his PTSD-laden father, to Odysseus' final coda in Hades. Throughout the narrative, we encounter first-person accounts from characters such as his wife, Penelope (who calls her husband \"a foaming stranger with Odysseus' aged face\") to Axia and Miletes, individuals who not only become his surrogate family but also represent his unanticipated opportunity for redemption. Through it all, with the reader swept along for the ride, Cooperman's Odysseus is a desperate man on a new and final journey - one of reclamation - becoming a sympathetic figure for the ages. As he lay dying, he can finally admit that \"better a small \/ life well-lived\" than the alternative. Adventure-packed, but grounded in human, tender feelings, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eAn Oar for Odysseus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eis a beautiful book.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eJon Ballard\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, author, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003ePossible Lives\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhere It Hurts\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Robert Cooperman\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798901467053\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Kelsay Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 12\/17\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 134\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.42lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.31d","brand":"Robert Cooperman","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48437611528447,"sku":"9798901467053","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_776bbbe7-8357-4cb4-8679-450f13f6105b.jpg?v=1777162912","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/an-oar-for-odysseus-robert-cooperman-9798901467053","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}