{"product_id":"the-spark-and-fire-of-it-9781622881727","title":"The Spark and Fire of It","description":"Love is a good thing--so true in \u003ci\u003eThe Spark and Fire of It\u003c\/i\u003e, this classic one-act romance: two young people smitten to the point of delirium and a gruff father who will have none of it. The father sees his daughter's suitor only as a penniless lad with nothing to offer. But the young woman's mother sees her own husband in the young man, remembering a time when he, too, was an empty-handed suitor. Add internal complications: the young women questions her own judgment, and the young man is tempted by a hooligan called Rascal. Then there is Old Gentleman, who, like a befuddled Socrates, understands this thing called love.\u003cbr\u003e The romance contains poems that begin with a line of Shakespeare that Soto artfully extends into his own original poetry. The dialogue is written in the vernacular of Elizabethan times--though occasionally it falls into contemporary street slang. The code switching reminds readers that love is a human experience that makes the young go crazy no matter the century\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGARY SOTO is the author of eleven poetry collections for adults, most notably \u003ci\u003eNew and Selected Poems\u003c\/i\u003e, a 1995 finalist for both the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times \u003c\/i\u003eBook Award and the National Book Award.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Stephen F. Austin University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50856125956370,"sku":"9781622881727","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_cb50a93b-049b-4bfd-aeed-634f17186be3.jpg?v=1737496437","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-spark-and-fire-of-it-9781622881727","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}