{"product_id":"neat-snakes-martin-langford-9781925780093","title":"Neat Snakes","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe beautiful are not exempt from the need to be brave. But we treat them as if they are: it is how we destroy them.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWe find relief in sport precisely because it has no meaning: its drama is expressed in numbers, and numbers contain no moral burden.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eInteriority withdraws the body from the moment like a first step towards sorrow.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLike many poets, Martin Langford has long been intrigued by the genre of aphorism. The neat snakes collected here have been compiled over many decades. An alternative way of articulating what might otherwise be explored in poems, they nevertheless retain the poem's elegance, and its characteristic tension between emotion and idea. \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNeat Snakes\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e is a very different addition to Australian writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMartin Langford has published seven books of poetry, the most recent of which are \u003cem\u003eThe Human Project: New and Selected Poems\u003c\/em\u003e (P\u0026amp;W, 2009), and \u003cem\u003eGround\u003c\/em\u003e (P\u0026amp;W, 2015). He is co-editor (with J. Beveridge, J. Johnson and D. Musgrave) of \u003cem\u003eContemporary Australian Poetry\u003c\/em\u003e (P\u0026amp;W, 2016), and editor of \u003cem\u003eHarbour City Poems: Sydney in Verse 1788-2008\u003c\/em\u003e (P\u0026amp;W, 2009). An essayist and critic, he is the poetry reviewer for \u003cem\u003eMeanjin\u003c\/em\u003e. His work has been translated into French, Chinese, Italian, Spanish and Arabic.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"one of Australia's foremost poets. . . a truly visioniary poet\" - Andy Kissane\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"...equal to anything now being written in Australia\" - Brian Purcell, \u003cem\u003eFive Bells\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Langford does not resort to obscurity to keep a poem afloat; the juxtapositions and word plays are stunning adornments to clear communication... \u003cem\u003eGround\u003c\/em\u003e is a major contribution to the continued development of an Australian postcolonial poetics.\" - Philip Hall, \u003cem\u003eVerity La\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Martin Langford\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1925780090\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781925780093\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Puncher \u0026amp; Wattmann\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/25\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 68\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.22lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.27h x 5.83w x 0.16d","brand":"Martin Langford","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48440131977471,"sku":"9781925780093","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_477b32b9-2a44-4d97-9ac1-982cf0f6ffa9.jpg?v=1777180437","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/neat-snakes-martin-langford-9781925780093","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}