{"product_id":"trading-riffs-to-slay-monsters-poems-9780374617646","title":"Trading Riffs to Slay Monsters: Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA witty and searching collaborative poetic work composed during the pandemic. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eLet's go back far as we dare\u003cbr\u003eto go back to that land bridge\u003cbr\u003emade of untrusting earth \u0026amp; ice, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eto a boorish faith in our rhythm\u003cbr\u003eof footsteps, the fleeting mantra\u003cbr\u003eof wordless dreams . . .  \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSo begins \u003ci\u003eTrading Riffs to Slay Monsters\u003c\/i\u003e, the collaborative work of an elder statesman of American poetry and a young emerging poet. In early 2020, Yusef Komunyakaa and Laren McClung began a conversation in verse that carried them through the COVID pandemic. The result is a work that is at once a document of the poets' inner and outer worlds and also a single and singular vision of what it is to live now and to look back on the epic scale of human history and artistic expression that stretches over millennia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Farrar, Straus and Giroux\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/17\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780374617646\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.25h x 5.38w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/15\/2025\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Yusef Komunyakaa,Laren McClung","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52122385940661,"sku":"9780374617646","price":18.7,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_7d1cec79-92ca-475f-a452-c9e1f37d61d7.jpg?v=1766512822","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/trading-riffs-to-slay-monsters-poems-9780374617646","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}