{"product_id":"the-beforelife-9780375411540","title":"The Beforelife","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this stunning collection  Franz Wright chronicles the journey back from a place of isolation and wordlessness. After a period when it seemed certain he would never write poetry again  he speaks with bracing clarity about the twilit world that lies between madness and sanity  addiction and recovery. Wright negotiates the precarious transition from illness to health in a state of skeptical rapture  discovering along the way the exhilaration of love--both divine and human--and finding that even the most battered consciousness can be good company.  Whether he is writing about his regret for the abortion of a child  describing the mechanics of slander (\"I can just hear them on the telephone and keening all their kissy little knives\")  or composing an ironic ode to himself (\"To a Blossoming Nut Case\")  Wrights poems are exquisitely precise. Charles Simic has characterized him as a poetic miniaturist  whose \"secret ambition is to write an epic on the inside of a matchbook cover.\" Time and again  Wright turns on a dime in a few brief lines  exposing the dark comedy and poignancy of his heightened perception.  Here is one of the poems from the collection:  Description of Her Eyes  Two teaspoonfuls  and my mind goes everyone can kiss my ass now--  then its changed  I change my mind.  Eyes so sad  and infinitely kind.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647830876213,"sku":"ByrdShop_0375411542","price":60.01,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780375411540.jpg?v=1781697483","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-beforelife-9780375411540","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}