{"product_id":"9781926829630","title":"The Pearl King and Other Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNotable Book in the 2005 Kiriyama Prize and longlisted for the 2005 ReLit Awards\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eCatherine Greenwood draws on the stories and legends which surround the development of cultured pearls by Mikimoto, the fabulous Pearl King, to engage a rich array of themes, including the clash between an aesthetics of refinement and nuance, and mass manufacture. With discerning wit and a large range of styles and voices, she holds up each subject for contemplation as though it were a pearl, and explores the sometimes bizarre consequences of an overwhelming rage for beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs the seal is strong and breathes air,\u003cbr\u003e   As the fish is quick and breathes water,\u003cbr\u003e   So make me, a mermaid strong and quick.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBless me with abalone abundant as mushrooms,\u003cbr\u003e   Oysters dropping ripe as plums into my palm.\u003cbr\u003e   Let my births keep me ashore a few days only,\u003cbr\u003e   Only for a little while let labour make me rest.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003efrom \"The Diving Girls’ Prayer\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhen, in other sections of the book, Catherine Greenwood turns her attention to such matters as the still birth of a calf, teeth, moles, or the Shetland Island stone, she does so with the same care for the exact fit of style, the same sharply-angled craft.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"The ancient Taoists believed that a pearl was grounded at the soul’s centre, that it took wisdom and clarity to create its essence. Catherine Greenwood’s first collection of poems is proof of that. Here is a new pearl, the beginning of a strand I hope, that will continue to be added to with such depth of field and luminosity.\" - Don Domanski\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Brick Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47176486912240,"sku":"9781926829630","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781926829630_p0.jpg?v=1763636001","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781926829630","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}