{"product_id":"sad-animal-9781957062167","title":"Sad Animal","description":"\u003cp\u003eJoshua MicKinney, winner of the first John Ridland Poetry Prize, is the author of four previous poetry collections: \u003cem\u003eSmall Sillion\u003c\/em\u003e (Parlor Press, 2019), \u003cem\u003eMad Cursive \u003c\/em\u003e(Wordcraft of Oregon, 2012), \u003cem\u003eThe Novice Mourner\u003c\/em\u003e, winner of the Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize (Bear Star Press, 2005), and \u003cem\u003eSaunter\u003c\/em\u003e, winner of the Contemporary Poetry Series Competition (University of Georgia, 2002). Professor Emeritus of English at California State University, Sacramento, he co-edits the online ecopoetics journal, \u003cem\u003eClade Song\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Joshua McKinney is a visionary of the intervals and of the interstices. His eye magnifies those last, fleeting splendors of our perishing earth and perishing republic with genuine love and with the grace notes of regret. In \u003cem\u003eSad Animal\u003c\/em\u003e, clarity becomes consolation and candor a true companionship. I'm not quite sure that we deserve these beautiful poems, but I am infinitely grateful for them.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Donald Revell, author of \u003cem\u003eWhite Campion \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eCanandaigua\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A citizen of our perplexed world and its 'brightest dark revelation, ' Joshua McKinney opens to all that he encounters-whether grief, environmental devastation, love, or even the absurdity of a faculty meeting-with a steadfast attention leavened with humor and, yes, sometimes irreverence.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e -Elizabeth Robinson, author of \u003cem\u003eExcursive\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThirst \u0026amp; Surfeit\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Talking is what the human does, but all of nature must be part of our conversation, and it is very much our turn to listen, even to the corpse flower, even to the white silence drifting to the eaves of houses. Even as the human is the saddest of animals, we are, as is this book, capable of hope and laughter and pleasure in this world. In fact, a lesson of this book is that it is our duty to feel pleasure, hopeful and devoured.\" \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e--Bin Ramke, author of \u003cem\u003eLight Wind Light Light\u003c\/em\u003e and\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eEarth on Earth\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Gunpowder Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50727744569618,"sku":"9781957062167","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_703c9550-6b91-4b9b-8870-ad2008d2fa31.jpg?v=1734920157","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/sad-animal-9781957062167","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}