{"product_id":"the-blessing-gregory-orr-9781571313867","title":"The Blessing: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHailed on its original publication as eloquent testimony to the engaging power of art in a man's life (\u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e), this deeply moving memoir, long out of print, is reissued with an illuminating new afterword.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen acclaimed poet Gregory Orr was twelve years old, he shot and killed his brother in a hunting accident. From the immediate aftermath--a period of shock, sadness, and isolation--it quickly became clear that support and guidance would not be coming from his distant mother. Nor would it come from his father, a philandering country doctor addicted to amphetamines. Left to his own devices, the boy suffered.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGuilt weighed on him throughout a childhood split between the rural Hudson Valley and jungles of Haiti. As a young man, his feelings and a growing sense of idealism prompted him to activism in the civil rights movement, where he marched and was imprisoned, and then scarred again by a terrifying abduction. Eventually, Orr's experiences led him to understand that art, particularly poetry, could work as a powerful source of healing and meaning to combat the trauma he carried.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThroughout \u003cem\u003eThe Blessing\u003c\/em\u003e, Orr articulates his journey in language as lyrical as it is authentic, gifting us all with a singular tale of survival, and of the transformation of suffering into art.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Gregory Orr\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1571313869\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781571313867\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Milkweed Editions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/13\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/16\/2019","brand":"Gregory Orr","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43980113805567,"sku":"9781571313867","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_65c34606-5748-459a-a7c7-7fdbaa8ec0a3.jpg?v=1683248473","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-blessing-gregory-orr-9781571313867","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}