{"product_id":"mimis-trapeze-9780822963158","title":"Mimi's Trapeze","description":"Rosser's poems have always given a squinty sideways glance at cultural foibles and assumptions. Her distinctive brand of cheery skepticism implies that the genuine pursuit of truth is a virtue that renders tolerable the intolerable. These poems achieve a lyricism that gives free reign to the lush energies of language while remaining transparent enough to communicate something precise, fresh, and unsettling. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A driving force behind the poems in \u003ci\u003eMimi's Trapeze\u003c\/i\u003e is Rosser's profound curiosity about all forms and conditions of life. Without distorting fact or motive, her speakers seek to navigate the mazes of our messy quotidian infelicities, ranging from imperfect love to squashing turtles on the road--from the history of artistic misrepresentations of women to global warming--attempting to calibrate the beautifully complex balance between desire and responsibility. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This collection dwells more on mortality and the lamentable state of the planet (and the spiritual unsoundness of its denizens) than her previous work. Another new vein can be traced in several poems that seek to distill a state like adolescence into a single word (\"Dyahe\"), reduce vast movements and disciplines into epigrammatic nutshells (Miniature Histories of the World\"), or isolate a condition like grief in an element as simple as salt (\"After the Service, the Widow Considers the Etymology of Salary\"). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eMimi's Trapeze\u003c\/i\u003e, her fourth book, Rosser takes a lighthearted view of dark subjects (see \"Final Invitation\"), and a dark view of light ones (\"Intro to Happiness\"). She has refined her vision, reaffirming her belief that poetry is the most direct and effective way for humans to alleviate their loneliness.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Pittsburgh Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/08\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780822963158\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 112\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.40d","brand":"J. Allyn Rosser","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42478334935221,"sku":"9780822963158","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_578b78b1-9fac-4cc3-8d3b-e7c4685b7930.jpg?v=1666751141","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/mimis-trapeze-9780822963158","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}