{"product_id":"forbidden-city-9780226349565","title":"Forbidden City","description":"\u003ci\u003efrom \"Mount Fuji\"\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A draughtsman's draughtsman, Hokusai at 70 \u003cbr\u003e thought he'd begun to grasp the structures \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e of birds and beasts, insects and fish, of the way \u003cbr\u003e plants grow, hoped that by 90 he'd have \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003epenetrated to their essential nature\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e And more, by 100, \u003ci\u003eI will have reached the stage\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ewhere every dot, every mark I make will be\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ealive.\u003c\/i\u003e You always loved that resolve, you'd repeat \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e joyfully--Hokusai's utterance of faith \u003cbr\u003e in work's possibilities, its reward, that, \u003cbr\u003e at 130, he'd perhaps have learned to draw. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Gail Mazur's poems in \u003ci\u003eForbidden City\u003c\/i\u003e build an engaging meditative structure upon the elements of mortality and art, eloquently contemplating the relationship of art and life--and the dynamic possibilities of each in combination. At the collection's heart is the poet's long marriage to the artist Michael Mazur (1935-2009). A fascinating range of tone infuses the book--grieving, but clear-eyed rather than lugubrious, sometimes whimsical, even comical, and often exuberant. The note of pleasure, as in an old tradition enriched by transience, runs through the work, even in the final poem, \"Grief,\" where \"our ravenous hold on the world\" is a powerful central element.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGail Mazur \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of seven books of poems, including \u003ci\u003eThey Can't Take That Away from Me\u003c\/i\u003e, a finalist for the National Book Award, and \u003ci\u003eZeppo's First Wife, \u003c\/i\u003e a Massachusetts Book Award winner and finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is distinguished writer in residence at Emerson College.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50844125298962,"sku":"9780226349565","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9b945c8e-7285-4878-b4b1-1f2c8399b500.jpg?v=1737312067","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/forbidden-city-9780226349565","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}