{"product_id":"oil-courses-carolyn-williams-noren-9781606355114","title":"Oil Courses","description":"\u003cp\u003eGrounded in deep concern about the climate crisis, Carolyn\u003cbr\u003eWilliams-Noren's \u003ci\u003eOil Courses\u003c\/i\u003e recalls a family reliant on the oil\u003cbr\u003eindustry--her father worked for British Petroleum in Anchorage, Alaska--and a\u003cbr\u003esummer spent in its service on Endicott Island. What \"curriculum\" has oil\u003cbr\u003eoffered each of us? To answer, \u003ci\u003eOil Courses\u003c\/i\u003e turns to strange happenings in\u003cbr\u003ethe changing landscape and in our interior lives, magnifying odd scenes that\u003cbr\u003eonce seemed ordinary and filing them under the names of school subjects such as\u003cbr\u003ephysics, economics, and history.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn these poems, the absurd, the\u003cbr\u003ebeautiful, and the alarming collide. Tiny fish begin to swim sideways, \u003cbr\u003epoisoned. The permafrost melts. Whales are hunted and skinned. The high school\u003cbr\u003eyearbook features students who have hit moose with their cars. A polar bear is\u003cbr\u003espotted at a distance through binoculars, and the tundra is viewed both up\u003cbr\u003eclose and from a plane window.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis collection is also an\u003cbr\u003eevocative snapshot of American girlhood in the late '80s and early '90s. A\u003cbr\u003eshopping mall with an ice rink opens, \u003ci\u003eSassy\u003c\/i\u003e magazine comes in the mail, \u003cbr\u003ebedroom closets become shrines covered in photos of teen heartthrobs, and bangs\u003cbr\u003eare teased high. Boys make insensitive comments. Still, the particularities of\u003cbr\u003egeography persist: A teacher warns her students that \"the earth \/ could open\u003cbr\u003eand take anything away.\" The speaker of one poem wins a trophy for an essay on\u003cbr\u003ethe subject \"What Petroleum Means to Me,\" presented by a group\u003cbr\u003eof women she derisively calls the \"Petroleum Wives.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOil Courses\u003c\/i\u003e speaks to our\u003cbr\u003ecollective reliance on exploitative industries and questions our\u003cbr\u003eresponsibilities and relationships to the natural world. These poems are droll, \u003cbr\u003erevealing, and ultimately haunting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Carolyn Williams-Noren\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1606355112\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781606355114\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Kent State University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/08\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 84\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Carolyn Williams-Noren","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48517191237887,"sku":"9781606355114","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_298d4850-2d09-4160-a690-f68c97970e10.jpg?v=1778730516","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/oil-courses-carolyn-williams-noren-9781606355114","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}