{"product_id":"metaphysical-dog-frank-bidart-9780374534622","title":"Metaphysical Dog","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNational Book Critics Circle Award Winner\u003cbr\u003eWinner of the PEN\/Voelcker Award for Poetry\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA National Book Award Finalist\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA vital, searching new collection from one of finest American poets at work today\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \"Those Nights,\" Frank Bidart writes: \"We who could get \/ somewhere through \/ words through \/ sex could not.\" Words and sex, art and flesh: In \u003ci\u003eMetaphysical Dog\u003c\/i\u003e, Bidart explores their nexus. The result stands among this deeply adventurous poet's most powerful and achieved work, an emotionally naked, fearlessly candid journey through many of the central axes, the central conflicts, of his life, and ours.\u003cbr\u003e Near the end of the book, Bidart writes: \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In adolescence, you thought your work\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e ancient work: to decipher at last\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e human beings' relation to God. Decipher\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e love. To make what was once whole\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e whole again: or to see \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e why it never should have been thought whole.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e This \"ancient work\" reflects what the poet sees as fundamental in human feeling, what psychologists and mystics have called the \"hunger for the Absolute\"--a hunger as fundamental as any physical hunger. This hunger must confront the elusiveness of the Absolute, our self-deluding, failed glimpses of it. The third section of the book is titled \"History is a series of failed revelations.\"\u003cbr\u003e The result is one of the most fascinating and ambitious books of poetry in many years. \u003cbr\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Poetry Books of 2013 \u003cbr\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eNotable Book of 2013 \u003cbr\u003eAn NPR Best Book of 2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Frank Bidart\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0374534624\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780374534622\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Farrar, Straus and Giroux\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/06\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 128\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.35lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.40d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/22\/2014 pg. 28","brand":"Frank Bidart","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44054833987839,"sku":"9780374534622","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_6cad6d2d-ddf9-43be-aafa-1ddbeeb162ba.jpg?v=1685032264","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/metaphysical-dog-frank-bidart-9780374534622","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}