{"product_id":"9781555974374","title":"Parallel Play","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe eagerly anticipated second collection by poet and esteemed critic Stephen Burt\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eFlaunting your useless knowledge has failed you again,\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThough it was all they had taught you.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e —from \"Like a Wreck\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConsult any childhood development guide and you'll find the term \"parallel play\": when children under two are placed together, they'll play separately but won't interact. They are more fascinated with their immediate surroundings than with each other.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStephen Burt's second collection of poems, \u003ci\u003eParallel Play\u003c\/i\u003e, describes lovers, friends, travelers, and revelers attempting lives dependent on each other but still pulled inevitably into preoccupations of their own self-awareness. When there are many obstacles—overeducation, narcissism, extended adolescence, nomadic existence—how can Americans crawl out of the nursery and coexist if they increasingly have to learn to do so as adults?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Graywolf Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47030569861360,"sku":"9781555974374","price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781555974374_p0.jpg?v=1763753697","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781555974374","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}