{"product_id":"surrounded-by-friends-9781940696034","title":"Surrounded by Friends","description":"\u003ch2\u003eAbout Surrounded by Friends\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew Rohrer's seventh poetry collection explores the connections between friends, family, and the everyday moments that shape our lives. These poems embrace friendships with the living, the dead, and even the inanimate, finding meaning in the ordinary distractions of daily existence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Rohrer's frequently beautiful, brief poems are rooted in specific images that initially seem unrelated--but which ultimately form a unity as meditations on how the ordinary distractions of everyday life can be seen as the source for almost everything important in life.\"--Ken Tucker, \u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe collection builds through an expanding chorus of poetic voices, culminating in poems written \"in collaboration\" with classical masters Kobayashi Issa, Yosa Buson, Matsuo Basho, and Hafiz. The urban peoplescape serves as backdrop for these meditations on connection and solitude.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eFeatured Poem\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTHERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LONELIER\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThere is absolutely nothing lonelier\u003cbr\u003ethan the little Mars rover\u003cbr\u003enever shutting down, digging up\u003cbr\u003erocks, so far away from Bond Street\u003cbr\u003ein a light rain. I wonder\u003cbr\u003eif he makes little beeps? If so\u003cbr\u003ehe is lonelier still. He fires a laser\u003cbr\u003einto the dust. He coughs. A shiny\u003cbr\u003ething in the sand turns out to be his.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAbout Matthew Rohrer\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMatthew Rohrer has received the Hopwood Award for poetry, a Pushcart Prize, was selected as a National Poetry Series winner by Mary Oliver, and was shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize. He is the co-author, with Joshua Beckman, of \u003ci\u003eNice Hat. Thanks.\u003c\/i\u003e, and the audio CD \u003ci\u003eAdventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty\u003c\/i\u003e. He has appeared on NPR's \u003ci\u003eAll Things Considered\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Next Big Thing\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and teaches at NYU.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHis previous works include \u003ci\u003eDestroyer and Preserver\u003c\/i\u003e (Wave Books, 2011), \u003ci\u003eA Plate of Chicken\u003c\/i\u003e (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2009), \u003ci\u003eRise Up\u003c\/i\u003e (Wave Books, 2007), \u003ci\u003eA Green Light\u003c\/i\u003e (Verse Press, 2004), \u003ci\u003eSatellite\u003c\/i\u003e (Verse Press, 2001), and \u003ci\u003eA Hummock in the Malookas\u003c\/i\u003e, selected for the National Poetry Series in 1994.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wave Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50493249028370,"sku":"9781940696034","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_2764ef8c-c593-4a9c-8602-07eddf0e5303.jpg?v=1730640354","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/surrounded-by-friends-9781940696034","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}