{"product_id":"satan-talks-to-his-therapist-9781589881815","title":"Satan Talks to His Therapist","description":"\u003cstrong\u003e\"If the LOLSOB emoji could write verse that both sings and stings, the result would be \u003cem\u003eSatan Talks to His Therapist\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--Allison Joseph, author of \u003cem\u003eConfessions of a Barefaced Woman \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Balmain treads that fine line between comedy and tragedy in poems graced by telling details, surprising turns, and a keen sense of the absurd ... \u003ci\u003eSatan Talks to His Therapist\u003c\/i\u003e is a serious book that's very funny, and Melissa Balmain's gift is being able to tilt toward humor without losing the ache beneath the laughter.\"\u003cbr\u003e--\u003ci\u003eLiterary Matters\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eSatan Talks to His Therapist, \u003c\/i\u003e Melissa Balmain explores the lighter side of dark times. Playful yet poignant, her poems perfectly capture our human fallibility and comedic sense of importance. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe collection begins with \"On Looking at an MRI Cross-Section,\" in which Balmain peeks inside her own skull to consider the jumble of thoughts and memories harbored there. After this introduction to the poet's inner world, the book divides into three sections: Spiraling Down, In Limbo, and Climbing Out. The poems in this lyrical descent and ascent are about climate change, social media, pandemics, politics (sexual and otherwise), parenthood, consumerism, aging, loss, and ills, both physical and societal. Balmain writes in meter and rhyme, and she uses traditional forms (sonnets, villanelles, terza rima) as well as ones she's coined for the moment. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe poems in \u003ci\u003eSatan Talks to His Therapist\u003c\/i\u003e provide clarity and comedy in a time that feels anything but clear or comic, and they hint at the consolations of art, kindness, maturity, persistence, love, and, of course, humor.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMelissa Balmain\u003c\/b\u003e is the editor-in-chief of \u003ci\u003eLight\u003c\/i\u003e, America's longest-running journal of comic verse. Her poems and prose have appeared in such places as \u003ci\u003eThe American Bystander, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Ecotone, The Hopkins Review, Lighten Up Online, The New Verse News, Poetry Daily, Rattle, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e The Washington Post. \u003c\/i\u003eBalmain is the author of two previous poetry collections, \u003ci\u003eWalking in on People\u003c\/i\u003e (chosen by X.J. Kennedy for the Able Muse Book Award) and \u003ci\u003eThe Witch Demands a Retraction: Fairy Tale Reboots for Adults\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as a travel memoir. A member of the University of Rochester's English Department since 2010, she lives nearby with her husband and (for now) one of their two children. She is a recovering mime.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Paul Dry Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50725783339282,"sku":"9781589881815","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f4fda661-7937-4efd-b7c3-afec5ca8c827.jpg?v=1734844937","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/satan-talks-to-his-therapist-9781589881815","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}