{"product_id":"valentines-day-in-the-mummy-museum-9781646624539","title":"Valentine's Day in the Mummy Museum","description":"\u003cp\u003eBecause he is an exceptionally alive human being, David Allan Cates is a one-of-a-kind poet. The pieces of his \u003cem\u003eValentine's Day in the Mummy Museum\u003c\/em\u003e are smart, witty, wise, candid, original, brave, affectionate, imaginative, bold, knowledgeable about the world, and utterly unpretentious. The best love poems I've read in years are in this book-\"On a Cliff with You\" and \"The Purpose of Kissing.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e -David Huddle\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003eMy Surly Heart, Dream Sender, \u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eBlacksnake at the Family Reunion\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEven at his most smart-allecky, Tony Hoagland always held the world open to the messy certitude of his love. David Allan Cates, with \u003cem\u003eVALENTINE'S DAY IN THE MUMMY MUSEUM\u003c\/em\u003e, is the new bearer of that deeply American affection. Cates' rough and aching poems are sometimes funny, never smug, and always capable of breaking your heart. Whether bright missives constructed in the beautiful unease of Latin America, or raised in view of the back door of his home in Montana, Cates' understated poems want so dearly to connect to the ineffable, even when they know it's impossible, yet go on singing anyway. \"Have you written\/the lives you love?\" Cates asks. Thankfully for us, the answer is yes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e -Christopher Locke\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of \u003cem\u003eWAITING FOR GRACE \u0026amp; OTHER POEMS\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eTRESPASSERS\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe poems in\u003cstrong\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eDavid Cates' book are valentines, in truth, to the liminal state of being alive. \"We invent so we don't fall off the lobe of now,\" he writes. And \"There's a moment when it could go either way.\" Every single poem in this collection lives in that dream-like place where the heart must go when it's grappling with loss, sorrow, and the complexities of love. Every poem remains poised in that iridescent moment. These are rich and sometimes funny poems from a skillful writer who refuses to be embittered, whose mind is forever climbing the ladder of the imagination, never knowing what might happen next.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e -Fleda Brown\u003c\/strong\u003e, author of\u003cem\u003e FLYING THROUGH A HOLE IN THE STORM\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eTHE WOODS ARE ON FIRE\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCates, David Allan:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - David Allan Cates is the author of five award-winning novels, a collection of short stories, and a chapbook of poetry. He's published dozens of short stories and poems in literary magazines, and his essays and travel articles have appeared in Outside Magazine and the New York Times Sophisticated Traveler. He was born in Wisconsin, raised cattle on his family's farm, worked on construction sites, in offices, restaurants, and on boats. He's driven a taxi, played professional basketball in Costa Rica, and was a medical interpreter in rural clinics and hospitals in Honduras. He has taught writing at all levels, from prison classes, to public high schools, to universities, to hospitals. He currently teaches private students, and serves as the director of Missoula Medical Aid, an NGO that provides public health and surgical services in Honduras, and supports nutrition and agricultural development projects there. He and his wife raised three daughters, and live in Montana.","brand":"Finishing Line Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52034206531858,"sku":"9781646624539","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_808828df-b443-42f6-93f3-629dd3ba1898.jpg?v=1770988204","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/valentines-day-in-the-mummy-museum-9781646624539","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}