A Dangerous Place Contributor(s): Desautels, Chelsea B. (Author) |
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ISBN: 1946448869 ISBN-13: 9781946448866 Publisher: Sarabande Books OUR PRICE: $14.36 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: October 2021 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Poetry | Women Authors - Poetry | Subjects & Themes - Death, Grief, Loss - Poetry | Subjects & Themes - Family |
Dewey: 811.6 |
Physical Information: 0.4" H x 6.4" W x 8.9" (0.35 lbs) 72 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Early in her powerful, affecting debut, Desautels writes: "I always mention gratitude because/people like that ending." Unflinching in its candor, this is the story of a woman with two swellings in her belly: a nascent baby, and a cancerous tumor. The poet could focus on the particulars of the medical case, using language from a traditional illness narrative. Instead she gives us the basics, then gathers up surprising and expansive material from various landscapes--the Black Hills, the prairies of Texas, the mountains, switchgrass, and, especially, the neighboring buffalo, to which she feels a profound connection. Desautels' metaphors strike home; they are counterpoints, balm to the uncertainty and grief that make us uncomfortable. The book moves elegantly from its dark beginnings to a transcendent thankfulness. With healing lyricism, she writes: "And I imagine the white sheets as heron wings./And the whirring machines are white eggs./And the worried voices are sunlight on water." |