{"product_id":"may-jamaal-big-book-opb","title":"May, Jamaal: The Big Book of Exit Strategies","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlice James, paperback\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublication Date: \u003cspan\u003eApril 12, 2016\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublisher Marketing: \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePraise for Jamaal May:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Linguistically acrobatic [and] beautifully crafted. . . . [Jamaal May's] poems, exquisitely balanced by a sharp intelligence mixed with earnestness, makes his debut a marvel.\"--\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing Jamaal May's award-winning debut collection,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eHum\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e(2013), these new poems explore parallel landscapes of the poet's interior and an insidious American condition. Using dark humor that helps illuminate the pains of maturity and loss of imagination, May uncovers language like a skilled archaeologist--digging up bones of the past to expose what lies beneath the surface of the fragile human condition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom: \"Ask Where I've Been\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eAsk about the tornado of fists.\u003cbr\u003eThe blows landed. If you can\u003cbr\u003ewatch it all--the spit and blood frozen\u003cbr\u003eagainst snow, you can probably tell\u003cbr\u003eI am the too-narrow road winding out\u003cbr\u003eof a crooked city built of laughter,\u003cbr\u003eabandon, feathers and drums.\u003cbr\u003eAsk only if you can watch streetlights bow,\u003cbr\u003ebridges arc, and power lines sag,\u003cbr\u003eand still believe what matters most\u003cbr\u003eis not where I bend\u003cbr\u003ebut where I am growing.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Open Books: A Poem Emporium","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":40817271898135,"sku":"9781938584244","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0004\/6497\/7956\/files\/517aOx2VaCL._AC_UF1000_1000_QL80.jpg?v=1745005408","url":"https:\/\/open-books-a-poem-emporium.myshopify.com\/products\/may-jamaal-big-book-opb","provider":"Open Books: A Poem Emporium","version":"1.0","type":"link"}