{"product_id":"upgraded-to-serious-heather-mchugh-9781556593956","title":"Upgraded to Serious","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"If McHugh is serious, she's anything but grim; with all her punning, bantering, and mock scolding of herself . . . she brightens the shadowy corners of her world with verbal pyrotechnics.\"--\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Her poems are open, resilient, invisibly twisted: part safety net, part trampoline.\"--\u003ci\u003eVillage Voice Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis fast-paced, verbally dexterous book--honored as a \"Book of the Year\" by \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e--\"boils up and boils over\" as it utilizes medical terminology and iconography to work through loss and detachment. Heather McHugh's startling rhymes and rhythms, coupled with her sarcastic self-reflection and infectious laughter, serve as both palliative and prophylactic in the face of human sufferings and ignorance. Being \"upgraded to serious\" from critical condition is a nod to the healing powers of poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Not to Be Dwelled On\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eSelf-interest cropped up even there, \u003cbr\u003ethe day I hoisted three instead\u003cbr\u003eof the ceremonially called-for two\u003cbr\u003espadefuls of loam\u003cbr\u003eonto the coffin of my friend.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhy shovel more than anybody else?\u003cbr\u003eWhat did I think I'd prove? More love\u003cbr\u003e(mud in her eye)? More will to work?\u003cbr\u003e(her father what, a shirker?) Christ, \u003cbr\u003ewhat wouldn't anybody give\u003cbr\u003eto get that gesture back?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eShe cannot die again; and I\u003cbr\u003edo nothing but re-live.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHeather McHugh\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of a dozen books of poetry and translation. She teaches at the University of Washington and Warren Wilson College and lives in Seattle, Washington.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Heather McHugh\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1556593953\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781556593956\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Copper Canyon Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/19\/2012\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 104\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.35lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.80h x 5.90w x 0.30d","brand":"Heather McHugh","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44080681517311,"sku":"9781556593956","price":15.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_39908a4f-7876-4550-8948-3354bf9e8531.jpg?v=1685488201","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/upgraded-to-serious-heather-mchugh-9781556593956","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}