{"product_id":"9781937875305","title":"Bonfire of the Verities","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eRes ipsa loquitor\u003c\/i\u003e—the thing speaks for itself—as the lawyers say. But does it? Not in Michael Lieberman’s new book of poems, \u003ci\u003eBonfire of the Verities\u003c\/i\u003e. What speaks here is doubt and the commitment to cast aside the apparent truths we all accumulate.  Those verities are what are tossed onto Lieberman's bonfire: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt is here I heap\u003cbr\u003e the platitudes\u003cbr\u003e I cannot keep.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe grounds his struggle precisely:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe coordinates of the country of doubt\u003cbr\u003e are 29º, 45’ N \/ 95º, 21’ W,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ewhich are those of Houston, his adopted city. It is an unusual poet who is willing to pare away belief and accept that truths—received or earned—must be discarded as we face the unknowable mystery. In the end what Lieberman wrests from the void is the recognition that there is no ultimate choice but dissolution:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis fire burns in me—\u003cbr\u003e it cannot set me free\u003cbr\u003e it leaves me ash, not tree.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd yet ash is both residue and tree, offering the possibility that dissolution is a kind of redemption.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Texas Review Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47039739330800,"sku":"9781937875305","price":10.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781937875305_p0.jpg?v=1763663144","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781937875305","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}