{"product_id":"unexpected-mergers-marcel-herms-9781948920247","title":"Unexpected Mergers","description":"Another brilliant collaboration between poet Jordan Trethewey and painter Marcel Herms, \u003ci\u003eUnexpected Mergers \u003c\/i\u003eis a haunting, and often hilarious, conversation. An emblem book for the 21st century. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJordan Trethewey gets it right. His collaborations with Marcel Herms are truly, as the title declares, Unexpected Mergers. This is Trethewey and Herms' second collaboration in three years, and like 2019's \u003ci\u003eSpirits For Sale, \u003c\/i\u003e the tone is dark, creepy, dare I say Goth, and highly imaginative. As a writer who is comfortable working with artists, Trethewey's words do more than respond to the images; they inhabit them. Looking through and reading Unexpected Mergers becomes a chicken and the egg proposition: what came first, the image or the text? While there is a Goth sensibility to the entire book, there is also an underlying lyrical wit that transforms the readers' experience to one of, if not joy, then pleasure. This is a book that has to be seen to be believed, so take a dive into the strange world of Trethewey and Herms; you'll relish the experience. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- Danny Shot, author of \u003ci\u003eWorks\u003c\/i\u003e, and head poetry editor at \u003ci\u003eRed Fez\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLike all good ekphrastic works, Jordan Trethewey's poems and Marcel Herms' artwork could successfully stand alone, yet side-by-side in \u003ci\u003eUnexpected Mergers\u003c\/i\u003e they transmute. They both reflect one another and flavor each other's narratives. With saturated color and playful language-\"you just tickled\/the pickled and powdered\/plastered grins they contain\"-the works toggle between darkness and light, death and living-\"nature will provide until\/we finish poisoning it\/so let's just go downtown\/have an expensive drink.\" The paintings suggest human forms, yet with undefined borders, trailing off into their tinted and textured milieu. In the same way the poems eschew traditional punctuation and capitalization-lessening the text's boundaries on the page. Words and art shape mini-stories which touch on normalcy yet refuse to linger there-just concrete enough to weigh them to earth and avoid floating off into dreamlike obscurity. \"It's not uncomfortable\/just unfamiliar.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e- Kerry Trautman, author of \u003ci\u003eTo Have Hoped, Artifacts\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eTo Be Nonchalantly Alive\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Marcel Herms,Jordan Trethewey\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1948920247\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781948920247\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Pski's Porch Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/05\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 98\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.37lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.25d","brand":"Marcel Herms","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48437175517439,"sku":"9781948920247","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_ff97fedb-771d-42f3-8d79-a946e42ae857.jpg?v=1777160359","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/unexpected-mergers-marcel-herms-9781948920247","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}