{"product_id":"i-am-your-lifeguard-new-and-selected-poems-9781324118176","title":"I Am Your Lifeguard: New and Selected Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003eDrawing on nine previous collections and including nearly fifty new poems, Charlie Smith's \u003cem\u003eI Am Your Lifeguard\u003c\/em\u003e marks the return of one of our most honest and unorthodox poets. The poems in this collection expose jagged truths: some are love letters; some focus our attention on beauty we may have otherwise missed, stepped over or cast aside; some tell us secrets we may want to carry in a locket; some are x-ray readings of our hearts; some are laugh-out-loud funny; some are quiet revelations. Each one is a prism through which Smith refracts and reflects the experience of consciousness, such as \"No Nonsense,\" in which he writes that \"I came \/ away from myself \/ unstuck \/ and a sort of translucent orderliness \/ like a small herd of gazelles \/ entered my mind.\" The cascade of imagery, observation, and revelation that characterizes Smith's work imbues the collection with an expansive, radical compassion. It \"remind[s] us . . . we don't really know what beauty is until we've looked hard at the horror that throws beauty into bright relief\" (David Kirby, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cem\u003eI Am Your Lifeguard\u003c\/em\u003e is prophetic and prescient, exquisitely descriptive of what it means to be human, and astonishingly attentive to beauty found even in the most derelict places. This collection is a stunning retrospective from an award-winning writer of \"scalding aortal brilliance\" (\u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Charlie Smith\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 02\/10\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 272\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.1lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.30h x 6.20w x 1.00d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781324118176","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45229888536713,"sku":"9781324118176","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_46231b5f-6fd5-4445-a0de-33c15684062b.jpg?v=1770113723","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/i-am-your-lifeguard-new-and-selected-poems-9781324118176","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}