{"product_id":"9780393240290","title":"The Cineaste: Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003e“Finds evocative new ways to connect us to a shared storytelling heritage.”—\u003cem\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A. Van Jordan, an acclaimed American poet and the author of three previous volumes, “demonstrates poetry’s power to be at once intimate and wide-ranging” (Robert Pinsky, \u003cem\u003eWashington Post Book World\u003c\/em\u003e). In this penetrating new work he takes us with him to the movies, where history reverberates and characters are larger than life. \u003cem\u003eThe Cineaste\u003c\/em\u003e is an entrancing montage of poems, wherein film serves as the setting for contemplative trances, memoir, and pure fantasy. At its center is a sonnet sequence that imagines the struggle of pioneer filmmaker Oscar Micheaux against D. W. Griffith’s \u003cem\u003eThe Birth of a Nation\u003c\/em\u003e, which Micheaux saw not only as racist but also as the start of a powerful new art form. “Sharpen the focus in your lens, and you \/ Sharpen your view of the world; you can see \/ How people inhabit space in their lives, \/ How the skin of Negroes and whites both play \/ With light.” Scenes and characters from films such as \u003cem\u003eMetropolis\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eStranger than Paradise\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLast Year at Marienbad\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Red Shoes\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Great Train Robbery\u003c\/em\u003e also come to luminous life in this vibrant new collection. \u003cem\u003eThe Cineaste\u003c\/em\u003e is an extended riff on Jordan’s life as a moviegoer and a brilliant exploration of film, poetry, race, and the elusiveness of reverie. \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003efrom “Last Year at Marienbad”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003eA place, though visible, is like a ghost\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003eof memories. Even memories one forgets\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003elinger in the space in which they occurred.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003eHere within the expanse of vaulted ceilings,\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003edoorways leading to more doors, hallways\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003eleading to more halls, the faintest recollections\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cem\u003eabsorb over time; no act will wholly evanesce.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Norton, W. W. \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47104190972144,"sku":"9780393240290","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780393240290_p0.jpg?v=1763696774","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780393240290","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}