{"product_id":"the-final-voicemails-poems-9781571315113","title":"The Final Voicemails: Poems","description":"\"Even present tense has some of the grace of past tense, \/ what with all the present tense left to go.\" From Max Ritvo--selected and edited by Louise Gl ck--comes a final collection of poems fully inscribed with the daring of his acrobatic mind and the force of his unrelenting spirit. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Diagnosed with terminal cancer at sixteen, Ritvo spent the next decade of his life writing with frenetic energy, culminating in the publication of \u003ci\u003eFour Reincarnations\u003c\/i\u003e. As with his debut, \u003ci\u003eThe Final Voicemails\u003c\/i\u003e brushes up against the pain, fear, and isolation that accompany a long illness, but with all the creative force of an artist in full command of his craft and the teeming affection of a human utterly in love with the world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The representation of the end of life resists simplicity here. It is physical decay, but it is also tedium. It is alchemy, \"the breaking apart, \/ the replacement of who, when, how, and where, \/ with what.\" It is an antagonist--and it is a part of the self. Ritvo's poems ring with considered reflection on the enduring final question, while suggesting--in their vibrancy and their humor--that death is not merely an end. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003ci\u003eThe Final Voicemails\u003c\/i\u003e is an ecstatic, hopeful, painful--and completely breathtaking--second collection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Milkweed Editions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/18\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781571315113\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 88\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.55lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.60h x 5.90w x 0.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/20\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2018 pg. 28\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/15\/2018 pg. 58\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Max Ritvo","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36660152959132,"sku":"9781571315113","price":18.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_791125b5-7511-4013-8c2c-1579741836ab.jpg?v=1603896211","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-final-voicemails-poems-9781571315113","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}