{"product_id":"9781910301012","title":"The Dream of Stairs: A Poem Cycle","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe Dream of Stairs: A Poem Cycle\u003c\/b\u003e was privately printed as a posthumous memorial volume in 1975, a year after Susan Noble's untimely death in 1974 at the age of 31.\u003cp\u003eHaving announced with typically light-hearted self-depreciation, 'The muse has struck me!', Susan wrote the poems in batches of half a dozen or more, from 1965 onwards, in what she described as manic bursts of creativity. But these poems are anything but light-hearted, and even a first reading will reveal clearly that levity is not on the menu in a universe 'Where there are no jokes \/ And people do not pretend.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSusan's output in the last ten years of her life was prolific, but when it came to compiling the poems, after a good deal of deliberation, a clear thematic structure and underlying development seemed to dictate the final order of that original poignant collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo mark the fortieth anniversary of Susan's death, this second edition, published in hardback, paperback and Kindle, makes the book publicly available for the first time. There are a number of changes to the first edition: a slight reordering of the poems, minor amendments to the structure of the poem cycle, a revised, enhanced layout, and indexes of titles and first lines.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMore significantly, the original selection has been augmented by many additional poems, which clearly fit within the cycle thematically and structurally.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFive companion volumes are also being published: \u003ci\u003eInside the Stretch of My Heart\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBefore and After the Darkness\u003c\/i\u003e are two previously unpublished collections of poems; \u003ci\u003eCollected Poems\u003c\/i\u003e, which incorporates all three poetry collections in one comprehensive volume; \u003ci\u003eA Flock of Blackbirds\u003c\/i\u003e (selected novellas and short stories); as well as the novel, \u003ci\u003eDrifting Between Empty Tramlines\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eProfits from the sales of all six volumes are being donated to three charities: Mind, the Samaritans and Sane. Facsimiles of the original typescripts and manuscripts are available online at:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewww.aesopbooks.com\/susannoble\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Aesop Poets, an imprint of Aesop Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47059266240752,"sku":"9781910301012","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781910301012_p0.jpg?v=1763626295","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781910301012","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}