{"product_id":"the-xenotext-book-2-9781552454985","title":"The Xenotext: Book 2","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eIt lives! The bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eEunoia\u003c\/i\u003e writes a death-defying poem in DNA\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Xenotext: Book 1\u003c\/i\u003e, Christian Bök outlined his plan to insert his poem, written as DNA, into a deathless bacterium, thereby writing a text able to outlive every apocalypse, enduring till the Sun itself expires. Now that the experiment has finally succeeded, Book 2 of \u003ci\u003eThe Xenotext\u003c\/i\u003e situates that poem within the deep time of the cosmos.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur civilization has only very limited methods for preserving its cultural heritage against a potential planetary disaster (be it thermonuclear warfare or astrophysical barrage); however, this experiment rehearses some of the techniques likely to be used in the future to preserve our archives against such annihilation.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWriting in his signature poetics, Bök speculates that, buried within the biochemistry of Life itself, there really does exist an innate beauty, if not a hidden poetry - a literal message that we might read, if we deign to seek it.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChristian B?k\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eEunoia\u003c\/i\u003e (Coach House Books, 2001), a bestselling work of experimental literature, which has gone on to win the Griffin Prize for Poetic Excellence (2002). \u003ci\u003eCrystallography\u003c\/i\u003e (Coach House Press, 1994), his first book of poetry, was nominated for the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award (1995). Nature has interviewed B?k about his work on \u003ci\u003eThe Xenotext\u003c\/i\u003e (making him the first poet ever to appear in this famous journal of science). B?k has also exhibited artworks derived from \u003ci\u003eThe Xenotext\u003c\/i\u003e at galleries around the world; moreover, his poem from this project has hitched a ride, as a digital payload, aboard a number of probes exploring the Solar System (including the InSight lander, now at Elysium Planitia on the surface of Mars). B?k is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and he teaches at Leeds School of Arts in the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Coach House Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51322246037778,"sku":"9781552454985","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f2c94912-1f0f-4015-a9a1-9066fc76020f.jpg?v=1748606160","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-xenotext-book-2-9781552454985","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}