{"product_id":"figuring-in-the-figure-poems-paperback-1","title":"Figuring in the Figure: Poems - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBen Berman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Ben Berman's second full-length collection, \u003cem\u003eFiguring in the Figure, \u003c\/em\u003e poems laden with aphorisms, puns, and witticisms meditate on shapes, angles, thinking about thinking, marriage, and the joys and trials of bringing a daughter into the world, among others. Sometimes with a Frostian spirit, sometimes with a touch of Zen, the known is questioned and wisdom gleaned from daily experience. This is a book that challenges us to reimagine the familiar, both physical and spiritual, while reminding us not to \"wander through this world without wonder.\"\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR FIGURING IN THE FIGURE: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Because design, alone, doesn't hold weight, \/\" Ben Berman writes in his remarkable second collection of poems, \"we need concrete material-the image\/ of a bridge over the sound of water.\" In \u003cem\u003eFiguring in the Figure, \u003c\/em\u003e Berman explores the nature of form in its deepest most complex sense. His luminous details evoke a world of mutable forms and shapes that suggest the fragility of our lives. The book culminates with a moving, realistic yet lyrical sequence of poems about the birth of his daughter. This is a quietly beautiful book that deserves attention and recognition.\u003cbr\u003e -Jeff Friedman, author of \u003cem\u003ePretenders\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFiguring in the Figure\u003c\/em\u003e is a self-portrait of a man becoming a father. Ben Berman writes inside a modified terza rima that makes a virtue out of clarity and discernment. The influence here of Frost returns us to Frost's virtues: these poems make points and have a point of view. Like Frost, Berman is unsparing in his introspection. He offers us an ongoing philosophy: when faced with the pain and contradiction of everyday life, \"to delay judgment and contemplate . . . incompatible thoughts.\"\u003cbr\u003e -Rodger Kamenetz, author of \u003cem\u003eThe Jew in the Lotus\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBen Berman's nimble terza rima is the perfect vehicle for the poems of \u003cem\u003eFiguring in the Figure.\u003c\/em\u003e Both expansive and structured, the interwoven stanzas allow him to form and reform probing questions of identity without ever forsaking a deep musicality. We watch the speaker ponder mouse droppings, hit the wall in a marathon, describe the great molasses flood of 1919, diaper a doll in a birthing class, then try to manage his \"tiny fascist\" of a toddler who wouldn't stop until \"every bookshelf toppled\/ like a\/ failed coup.\" His observations are enriched with various kinds of humor-aphorisms, riddles, word plays, and puns. This book is wise and wonderful.\u003cbr\u003e -Beth Ann Fennelly, Poet Laureate of Mississippi, author of \u003cem\u003eUnmentionables\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBen Berman's fine, clever poems are never merely clever. Their frisky formal play is finally and importantly about the finding of forms that might adequately contain our feelings. As his title, \u003cem\u003eFiguring in the Figure, \u003c\/em\u003e suggests, Berman is fond of double meanings; indeed, he is in love with all the twists and turns of language, as well as all the structures that display the pleasures of thinking. If invention is his inclination, order is his learned yet sly companion, \"a partner,\" he writes, \"the type\/ that coyly invites chaos to dance.\"\u003cbr\u003e -Lawrence Raab, author of \u003cem\u003eMistaking Each Other for Ghosts\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eABOUT THE AUTHOR: \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBen Berman's first book, \u003cem\u003eStrange Borderlands\u003c\/em\u003e (Able Muse Press, 2013), won the Peace Corps Award for Best Book of Poetry and was a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Awards. He has received awards from the New England Poetry Club and fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Somerville Arts Council. He is the poetry editor at \u003cem\u003eSolstice Literary Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e and teaches in the Boston area, where he lives with his wife and daughters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 88\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.21 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 20, 2017\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47353533628665,"sku":"9781927409718","price":21.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/gJ8zWAO-Wn9781927409718_6100555a-a092-421b-9183-55a3e9d43986.webp?v=1769825113","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/figuring-in-the-figure-poems-paperback-1","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}