{"product_id":"9780393344547","title":"The Trouble Ball: Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003e“[An] important work . . . inspiring its readers to greater human connection and to keep fighting the good fight.”—\u003cem\u003eThe Rumpus\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this new collection of poems, Martín Espada crosses the borderlands of epiphany and blasphemy: from a pilgrimage to the tomb of Frederick Douglass to an encounter with the swimming pool at a center of torture and execution in Chile, from the adolescent discovery of poet Omar Khayyám to the death of an \"illegal\" Mexican immigrant.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e from \"The Trouble Ball\"\u003cbr\u003e       \u003cem\u003eOn my father's island, there were hurricanes and tuberculosis, dissidents in jail\u003cbr\u003e       and baseball. The loudspeakers boomed: Satchel Paige pitching for the Brujos\u003cbr\u003e       of Guayama. From the Negro Leagues he brought the gifts of Baltasar the King;\u003cbr\u003e       from a bench on the plaza he told the secrets of a thousand pitches: The Trouble Ball,\u003cbr\u003e       The Triple Curve, The Bat Dodger, The Midnight Creeper, The Slow Gin Fizz,\u003cbr\u003e       The Thoughtful Stuff. Pancho Coímbre hit rainmakers for the Leones of Ponce;\u003cbr\u003e       Satchel sat the outfielders in the grass to play poker, windmilled three pitches\u003cbr\u003e       to the plate, and Pancho spun around three times. He couldn't hit The Trouble Ball.\u003c\/em\u003e","brand":"Norton, W. W. \u0026 Company, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47104335053040,"sku":"9780393344547","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780393344547_p0.jpg?v=1763697159","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780393344547","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}