{"product_id":"the-final-voicemails-poems-9781571315113","title":"The Final Voicemails: Poems","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"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 Glück--comes a final collection of poems fully inscribed with the daring of his acrobatic mind and the force of his unrelenting spirit.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDiagnosed with terminal cancer at sixteen, Ritvo spent the next decade of his life pursuing poetry with frenetic energy, culminating in the publication of \u003cem\u003eFour Reincarnations\u003c\/em\u003e. As with his debut, \u003cem\u003eThe Final Voicemails\u003c\/em\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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 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 about the enduring final question, while suggesting--in their vibrancy and their humor--that death is not merely an end.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Final Voicemails\u003c\/em\u003e is an ecstatic, hopeful, painful--and completely breathtaking--second collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Max Ritvo\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\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\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781571315113","brand":"Milkweed Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42713223397513,"sku":"9781571315113","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_ecd2c060-81b7-4942-9da7-7e57fd16476f.jpg?v=1719606114","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/the-final-voicemails-poems-9781571315113","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}