{"product_id":"scratching-the-ghost-9781555976606","title":"Scratching the Ghost","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, selected by Major Jackson\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe stub of your left leg dangles\u003cbr\u003eas I hold you up, my hands inserted under your arms\u003cbr\u003elike a child. You are complaining about the itch, \u003cbr\u003ethe burn; scratch the ghost of your calf and heel.\u003cbr\u003e --from \"Scratching the Ghost\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDexter L. Booth's ruminations on loss in this award-winning debut are rooted in a time past but one still palpable and persistent. Here are memories of love lost, family mourned, a father absent, ghosts of hometowns and childhood. Here too is a \"Short Letter to the Twentieth Century\" and, finally, a \"Long Letter to the Twentieth Century,\" as if across this collection the poet is mustering up the force to speak back to history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In Dexter Booth's \u003ci\u003eScratching the Ghost\u003c\/i\u003e, a cracked egg means the universe is splitting, the slap of a double-dutch rope is a broken-throated hymn, and splitting a squealing hog is akin to lovemaking. These are poems loyal to their own intrepid logic and reckless plausibility. Yet, lest the reader get too giddy in a fun house of mirrors, here, too, are the melodic laments and remarkable lyric passages of a poet who acknowledges the infinite current of melancholy that underlines his journey.\" --Major Jackson\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Graywolf Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/05\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781555976606\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 69\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.34lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.05h x 6.01w x 0.29d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2013 pg. 104\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/15\/2013 pg. 9\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/23\/2013\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dexter L. Booth","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43600293462197,"sku":"9781555976606","price":12.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_aac4dd94-161a-49ca-ae5e-413b2719cb40.jpg?v=1707207012","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/scratching-the-ghost-9781555976606","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}