{"product_id":"the-serious-world-9781960145833","title":"The Serious World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Serious World\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of epistolary poems written to Sylvia Plath about depression, therapy, friendship, family, and the struggling life of an artist.\u003c\/b\u003e With humor, sensitivity, and deep reflection, Laura Read explores many themes including mental health, suicide, loss, feminism, motherhood, and aging, offering a fresh view of the world as seen through the feminist poet's searching spyglass. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReaching back into history to talk with Plath and other historical figures who have suffered and wrote about their suffering, Read tries to make sense of what it's like to be alive and suffering now. These deeply felt poems include language from Plath's \u003ci\u003eThe Bell Jar\u003c\/i\u003e and poems about Marguerite Duras and Simone de Beauvoir. Other strange bedfellows from pop culture also make appearances, among them Kenny Rogers, Dr. Seuss, Kurt Cobain, and Courtney Love.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e BOA Editions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/28\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781960145833\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 95\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.82h x 5.83w x 0.55d","brand":"Laura Read","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51634877956277,"sku":"9781960145833","price":16.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_6a9ef4dc-33b4-46f9-b0e3-cc0320275937.jpg?v=1756789320","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-serious-world-9781960145833","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}