{"product_id":"quartet-for-j-robert-oppenheimer-kelly-cherry-9780807165041","title":"Quartet for J. Robert Oppenheimer: A Poem","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Robert Oppenheimer was a complex human being. No biography yet written comes even close to this elegant skein of poems in capturing his life and character.\"--Richard Rhodes, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning \u003ci\u003eThe Making of the Atomic Bomb\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eQuartet for J. Robert Oppenheimer records in poetry the life and times of one of America's best-known scientists, the father of the atomic bomb who later lobbied for containment of nuclear weaponry. In brief, elegant stanzas, Kelly Cherry examines Oppenheimer's inspirations, dreams, and values, visiting the events, places, and people that inspired him or led him to despair. She finds his place among scientists of his own time, such as Alan Turing and Albert Einstein, as well as his connections with historical and mythological figures from John Donne to Persephone. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Of course he had blood on his hands. Who did not?\" says Cherry, in \"The Nature of War.\" Again and again in the course of this remarkable poem, Cherry's narration of Oppenheimer's life compels her readers to contemplate the vagaries of science, guilt, and our responsibilities to each other. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Quartet for J. Robert Oppenheimer is a book length poem in which the architect of the atom bomb comes to embody America and the West's Faustian control of nature and the paradoxical helplessness and guilt which that control entailed. Oppenheim is marvelous, complicated, flawed and admirable character, and these poems read like chapters in a novel without in any way abandoning the intensities of feeling and image or delight in language we associate with lyric poetry. A terrific achievement and a compelling read.\"--Alan Shapiro, author of \u003ci\u003eLife Pig\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eReel to Reel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Kelly Cherry\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0807165042\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780807165041\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e LSU Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/01\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 160\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.05w x 0.30d","brand":"Kelly Cherry","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43926297313535,"sku":"9780807165041","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_58d97d24-7100-4606-b1cf-1a0fd810bf54.jpg?v=1681082288","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/quartet-for-j-robert-oppenheimer-kelly-cherry-9780807165041","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}