{"product_id":"understories-peter-schireson-9798901468210","title":"Understories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"The darkness is a generous space,\" asserts Peter Schireson as he navigates the stories that underpin his life, \"a man deep \/ in the grey season.\" Like that filtered light beneath a forest canopy, his poems are both playful and meditative. The poet \"accompanied by Thelonius Monk \/ and a small glass of bourbon, \/ float[s] out into the silver mist \/ that hangs over the yard.\" At his mother's death, he recalls that he \"kissed her on the crown of her head \/ ever so gently. \/ When finally she left, \/ she was accompanied by clouds.\" In plainspoken language, these lyrics question meaning, legacy, and grief with imagination and tenderness: \"On the nightstand in a shaft of moonlight, \/ a photograph of my three granddaughters.\" Death may even have its consolations, \"martinis and Chinese noodles, \/ the afterlife at its most relaxed.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbigail Wender\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, author, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eReliquary\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSchireson's last book was magical. I imagined a tuxedoed man pulling stars from his breast pockets, hives of bees from his hat. Now, in \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnderstories, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e the magician has become enlightened. He stands in a kitchen, in a clean sweat suit, relaxed, hands at his sides, as if to say, \"No tricks.\" It's a wonderful book.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003ePeter Coyote\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, Zen teacher and author\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePainters long ago mastered chiaroscuro to dramatize the space between light and dark, the contrast that captures what it is to be human: our angels and demons, our outer and inner selves, our lives and deaths. Schireson captures this interplay in \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnderstories, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e always with empathy, often with a subtle smile. Schireson's writing is eye-level with the reader, as in \"Goodbye, Ice Cream\" \"Beneath the tree, \/ a tearful girl \/ with tiny fingers \/ touches her hair, \/ her prom dress \/ in her closet, \/ her first child \/ in her belly.\" \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eUnderstories\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e is a welcoming collection, always extending an invitation to linger longer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e-\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eDJ Murphy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, author, \u003ci\u003e\u003ci\u003eSeeking Ordinary Joy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e @djmurphypoetry\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Peter Schireson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798901468210\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Kelsay Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/04\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 50\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.18lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.12d","brand":"Peter Schireson","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49001218670847,"sku":"9798901468210","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/understories-peter-schireson-9798901468210","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}