{"product_id":"the-serious-world-9781960145857","title":"The Serious World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Serious World \u003c\/em\u003eis a collection of epistolary poems written to Sylvia Plath about depression, therapy, friendship, family, and the struggling life of an artist.\u003c\/strong\u003e With humor, sensitivity, and deep reflection, Laura Read explores many themes including mental health, suicide, loss, feminism, motherhood, and aging, offering a fresh view of the world as seen through the feminist poet's searching spyglass. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReaching back into history to talk with Plath and other historical figures who have suffered and wrote about their suffering, Read tries to make sense of what it's like to be alive and suffering now. These deeply felt poems include language from Plath's The Bell Jar and poems about Marguerite Duras and Simone de Beauvoir, along with other strange bedfellows from pop culture who make appearances, among them Kenny Rogers, Dr. Seuss, Kurt Cobain, and Courtney Love.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLaura Read is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Serious World\u003c\/i\u003e (BOA, 2025), \u003ci\u003eBut She Is Also Jane \u003c\/i\u003e(winner of the Juniper Prize), \u003ci\u003eDresses from the Old Country\u003c\/i\u003e, and\u003ci\u003e Instructions for my Mother's Funeral\u003c\/i\u003e (winner of the AWP Donald Hall Prize). She served as poet laureate for the city of Spokane. She lives in Spokane, WA.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51749389664530,"sku":"9781960145857","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_555cdd1e-2f93-4f71-9929-a282307cfd19.jpg?v=1764082384","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-serious-world-9781960145857","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}