{"product_id":"dark-land-memoir-of-a-secret-childhood-9781589881891","title":"Dark-Land: Memoir of a Secret Childhood","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Put this beautiful book on your shelf between Frank Conroy's \u003ci\u003eStop-Time \u003c\/i\u003eand Tobias Wolff's\u003ci\u003e This Boy's Life\u003c\/i\u003e.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e--William Giraldi, author of\u003ci\u003e The Hero's Body\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis powerful memoir from poet Kevin Hart traces his difficult childhood as a \"backward boy\" in a poor part of London, a disorienting move to tropical Australia, and the secrets he and his family kept from one another.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eDark-Land: Memoir of a Secret Childhood \u003c\/i\u003eis Kevin Hart's searing, yet at times hilarious, narrative of his first thirteen years. It is a story of survival and transformation, of deception and recovery, and it passes from a frightening childhood in the East-End of London to a new and bewildering life in sub-tropical Australia. Throughout, Hart draws on John Bunyan's evocation of \"Dark-Land\" in \u003ci\u003ePilgrim's Progress\u003c\/i\u003e, the place Valiant-for-Truth leaves in order to seek the Celestial City. But \u003ci\u003eDark-Land\u003c\/i\u003e is no allegory. We see Hart's hidden inner life, his family's penchant for keeping secrets, and their illusions about the nature of their shared past. We see Hart grow from being the despair of his teachers in a rough primary school to experiencing a \"conversion\" in a math class in Brisbane, Australia, which turned him into a Christian, a poet, and an academic.Written in elegant, lucid prose, without a trace of sentimentality, \u003ci\u003eDark-Land\u003c\/i\u003e is a memoir of a working-class childhood, a narrative of a migrant, and the story of a convert to Christianity. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Paul Dry Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/11\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781589881891\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 241\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.50w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/15\/2024\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Kevin Hart","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44207170453685,"sku":"9781589881891","price":16.96,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_6a9b52a9-edad-4df5-8f8f-af5cecdd1158.jpg?v=1716907822","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/dark-land-memoir-of-a-secret-childhood-9781589881891","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}