{"product_id":"9781555974350","title":"Sugartown","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe unillusioned, effervescent new collection by David Rivard, whose poetry \"leaves me with a desire to be permanently friends with this mysterious kind of grace\" (Tomaz Salamun)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThat the sun stands apart\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003efrom all that it abuts,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eunwilling to judge it,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003emay be our only real hope.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e —from \"We Either Do or Don't, \u003cbr\u003e But the Problem Evolves Anyway\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eSugartown\u003c\/i\u003e, David Rivard's fourth collection, the poems unwind with the speed of urgent talk, detailing with mischievous humor and fierce candor the catch-as-catch-can experience of American existence. Language and merchandise pass over us in continual feed, and Rivard adeptly, subtly renders this predicament and its costs, while offering in these poems the alternative of paying attention—to one's self, to others, to the seemingly misbegotten world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe shards of experiences in \u003ci\u003eSugartown\u003c\/i\u003e are glimpsed out of the corner of one's eye, in a blur of speed. The shapes are often familiar: the happy candy of cell-phone chatter, menus built to comfort the wealthy, emotions turned into intellectual property rights. Underneath this stream of experience, and traveling at exactly the same speed, is the clarity and surprise that our lives—our small triumphs and failures—seem to matter so much more than anyone would have expected.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Graywolf Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47030649356528,"sku":"9781555974350","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781555974350_p0.jpg?v=1763756216","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781555974350","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}