{"product_id":"what-is-the-grass-walt-whitman-in-my-life-9780393070224","title":"What Is the Grass: Walt Whitman in My Life","description":"\u003cp\u003eMark Doty has always felt haunted by Walt Whitman's bold, perennially new American voice, and by his equally radical claims about body and soul and what it means to be a self. In \u003ci\u003eWhat Is the Grass\u003c\/i\u003e, Doty--a poet, a New Yorker, and an American--keeps company with Whitman and his \u003ci\u003eLeaves of Grass\u003c\/i\u003e, tracing the resonances between his own experience and the legendary poet's life and work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWhat is it then between us?\u003c\/i\u003e Whitman asks. In search of an answer, Doty explores spaces--both external and internal--where he finds the poet's ghost. He meditates on desire, love, and the mysterious wellsprings of the poet's enduring work: a radical experience of transformation and enlightenment, queer sexuality, and an obsession with death, as well as unabashed love for a great city and for the fresh, rowdy character of American speech. In riveting close readings threaded with personal memoir and illuminated by awe, Doty reveals the power of Whitman's persistent presence in his life and in the American imagination at large.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow does a voice survive death? \u003ci\u003eWhat Is the Grass\u003c\/i\u003e is a conversation across time and space, a study of the astonishment one poet finds in the accomplishment of another, and an attempt to grasp Whitman's deeply hopeful vision of human possibility.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/14\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780393070224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.95lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.40h x 5.60w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2019 pg. 65\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/15\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2020 pg. 86\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Mark Doty","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36636855206044,"sku":"9780393070224","price":22.06,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_41d3a0f4-d298-449e-a39a-6cb76f8968c7.jpg?v=1603843164","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/what-is-the-grass-walt-whitman-in-my-life-9780393070224","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}