{"product_id":"walking-upstream-paperback","title":"Walking Upstream - 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\u003eLloyd Ratzlaff\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA debut poetry collection, both lyrical and surprisingly playful, about overcoming a harsh evangelical upbringing and seeking consolation from the beauty of the natural world.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis collection by the author of three books of nonfiction takes readers into one man's struggle to escape the corrosive effects of a punishing religion. We meet the small, frightened boy afraid of hell-fire and eternal guilt, and decades later, the man kicking free of the habit of self-excoriation.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThere is humour in the observation of the antics of birds, especially magpies and other corvids, and profound humility in the struggle to resist a confining culture.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cbr\u003eMagpie, I love you more \u003cbr\u003efor your flight and strut \u003cbr\u003ethan for your \u003cbr\u003esquawk,  \u003cbr\u003ebut can't vilify a creature \u003cbr\u003eten times tougher than I am \u003cbr\u003eand a hell of a lot more handsome. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe walk with the poet-as-flaneur through neighbourhoods and along the river in a small prairie city, observing the incongruities, absurdities, and startling images and sounds of city life. And as the mystic who believes in something far beyond himself, so the beetle he sees on a path is \"a little Buddha,\" and the wind and the flowing river are \"irresistible forces,\" while a pine teaches him \"how you move \/ without going \/ anywhere.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eLloyd Ratzlaff is a former minister, counsellor, and university lecturer who has authored three books of literary nonfiction and edited an anthology of seniors' writings and a children's book. He was a finalist for three Saskatchewan Book Awards, won two Saskatchewan Writers Guild literary nonfiction awards, and served on the boards of several writing organizations. He was a columnist for \u003ci\u003ePrairie Messenger Catholic Journal\u003c\/i\u003e through its last nineteen years of publication, and taught writing classes for READ Saskatoon, the Western Development Museum, and the University of Saskatchewan's Certificate of Art and Design program. \u003ci\u003eWalking Upstream\u003c\/i\u003e is his first poetry collection. He lives in Saskatoon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 78\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.1 x 7.8 x 5.8 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 08, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47354003587321,"sku":"9781771872706","price":20.47,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0789\/2782\/3097\/files\/077G-kDX5g9781771872706.webp?v=1769828951","url":"https:\/\/bookscloud.io\/products\/walking-upstream-paperback","provider":"BooksCloud Book Dropshipping","version":"1.0","type":"link"}