{"product_id":"9781933132785","title":"Remains To Be Seen: Works Old and New","description":"\u003cb\u003ePraise for Halvard Johnson's work, old and new\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eHalvard Johnson . . . writes narratives, which are absurd fragments of chaos rather than elegant aesthetic forms; yet in energetic bursts of wit they exhibit uncanny control . . . Johnson casts these clever shadows to the edge of nonsense where media glibly flash the surreal, and enduring concepts get devoured in sound bites.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eRoberto Bonazzi\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany poets send me their books, but few I've received are as fine as Halvard Johnson's \u003ci\u003eGuide to the Tokyo Subway\u003c\/i\u003e. I have at least fourteen favorite poems, including \"Morning Calm,\" \"Paris in Old Photographs,\" \"La Violencia,\" \"How to Write Your Own Obituary,\" and \"Take Me to the Water.\" And for sheer delight, \"Thirteen Variations on a Line by Robert Frost.\" In just about all the poems there's something fascinating-an image, a tone, a total consciousness (often an achieved calm), an experiment with sound or phrasing. I found myself re-reading many of the poems, so many are 'locked' and provide complete satisfaction. It's also the wide range of \u003ci\u003eGuide to the Tokyo Subway\u003c\/i\u003e that I greatly admire, the complete interest Halvard Johnson brings to so many things, the expansiveness of these poems even while they're leading us to still moments. I've never seen another poet acknowledge the nuclear power plant, include it in solid lines, and then, in the same poem, move beyond it out to the Zen-like horizon in that unique 'bomb and calm' style which is all Johnson's own. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e Dick Allen\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHalvard Johnson's book \u003ci\u003eOrgan Harvest with Entrance of Clone\u003c\/i\u003es represents the work of a quiet pluralist who is by equal measure amazed by the world and dismayed \u0026amp; angered by those who would control it. The poems here range from abstract musings (or amusements) on relationships to ironic assaults on the hypocrisies that run through the current political landscape. Throughout, Johnson uses the fungibility of language to say at least two things at every opportunity, one of them literal and the other ironic or whimsical. There is an aspect of jesterism or merry prankster in each poem, though at the center of the book is an optimism that our 'better natures' still reside in us somewhere and that eventually, perhaps through the application of poetry and intelligence, they will rise to the surface, if only just in time. A solid book recommended. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJorn Ake\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe's the first poet I've read in a long time who makes sense of what's going on in the world. \u003cb\u003eEdward Field\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Spuyten Duyvil","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47044072538352,"sku":"9781933132785","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781933132785_p0.jpg?v=1763640440","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781933132785","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}