{"product_id":"if-life-is-love-chuck-madansky-9781639805907","title":"If Life Is Love","description":"As Confucius writes, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eWe have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e. Chuck Madansky's intelligent, poignant and sensitive second collection, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eIf Life Is Love\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eembodies this adage. The speaker's cardiologist tells him he's due to die in five years. Though that knowledge causes fear and trembling, it makes for heartfelt poems of deep attention and appreciation-clear-eyed poems that understand the suffering of the world but choose to privilege \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eour lonely hope\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e. These poems thrum with gratitude; they comfort and illuminate. Madansky deftly connects Aristotle and Oreos, Pandora and Goldilocks. And perhaps, in the end, it is the simplest experiences that teach us how to live. \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eHere is what I know: this morning \/ the fog would not leave the pond \/ until almost noon. By then, our dog \/ had led me through the woods \/ bathed in mud, rank and happy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Jennifer Franklin, \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003eauthor of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eIf Some God Shakes Your House\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChuck Madansky's latest book of poetry will draw you in, poem by poem, and leave you with a core choice: to perceive new associations and connections outside of your habitual framework of reality, or to cling to the comfort of your own small story, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003ein love with what's in the way \/ of love\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003ein you\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eThrough twists and turns that are funny and sad and immensely beautiful and deeply profound, Chuck invites us off the threshold to take a swim with him out into the expansive field of infinite possibilities. What a gift!\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Xochitl Hazel Trout, curator of Wild Words: Ferociously Nourishing Poetry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn language that is rich, resonant and full of acutely observed detail about the natural world and our human part of it, Madansky's collection is a praise song to all of life, which holds \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eso much to love, so much to grieve\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eHe says \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eI tilt toward the single blade \/ of grass, spring-born \/ forcing its way \/ through heart rubble\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e. \u003c\/i\u003eHere, as in other poems, the heart is a central image, the literal failing heart muscle, and the metaphorical heart, failing to love fully. In these poems, death is not the end of life, but part of the cycle that leads back to life. These are poems we can return to in times of despair, not because Madansky denies despair, but because we are invited on the poet's journey to see and love all of life. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-Lucile Burt, author of \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Cone of Uncertainty\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Chuck Madansky\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1639805907\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781639805907\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Kelsay Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/25\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 90\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.32lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.22d\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chuck Madansky","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47759386509567,"sku":"9781639805907","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_7d0bb596-2b0b-4ea2-8e67-9c44e9d75127.jpg?v=1765512542","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/if-life-is-love-chuck-madansky-9781639805907","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}