{"product_id":"the-ice-harp-norman-lock-9781954276178","title":"The Ice Harp","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRalph Waldo Emerson battles dementia while debating whether to intercede in a Black soldier's unjust arrest\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1879, toward the end of his life, the Sage of Concord has lost his words. Beset by aphasia and grief, Ralph Waldo Emerson is scarcely recognizable as America's foremost essayist and orator. To the dismay of his wife, he frequently entertains the specters of his fellow transcendentalists, including Whitman, Thoreau, John Muir, and Margaret Fuller, and frets about the future of humankind and the natural world. Does the present displace the past? Do ideas always precede actions? What responsibility does each of us bear for the downtrodden, the preservation of liberty, and the Earth itself? These metaphysical concerns become concrete when Emerson meets a Black soldier accused of killing a white man who abused him. The soldier's presence demands a response from Emerson, an action outside the parlors of philosophy and beyond the realm where language and logic hold sway.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Ice Harp\u003c\/i\u003e, the tenth stand-alone book in The American Novels series, is a poignant portrayal of a literary luminary coming to terms with the loss of memory, the cost of inaction, and the end of life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Norman Lock\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1954276176\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781954276178\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bellevue Literary Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/04\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.40h x 4.96w x 0.79d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/01\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2023 pg. 32\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/27\/2023","brand":"Norman Lock","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44069217796351,"sku":"9781954276178","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_8b70baf2-391b-42a9-8f7f-f608bffe89c2.jpg?v=1685423480","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-ice-harp-norman-lock-9781954276178","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}