{"product_id":"ashes-in-paradise-paperback","title":"Ashes in Paradise - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJeff Friedman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eYou've lost everything, my enemy said. No, I answered, I still have you, \u003c\/em\u003eJeff Friedman writes in his inspired new collection of prose poems and micros, \u003cem\u003eAshes in Paradise. \u003c\/em\u003eHis fabulist inventions, biblical retellings, lyrical improvisations, and contemporary mini tales brilliantly depict the deep sorrows and absurd tragedies of these dark times. In \u003cem\u003eAshes in Paradise, \u003c\/em\u003ea monster who looks like everyone else says to a monster hunter, \"If you believe in monsters, perhaps you are a monster.\" The cops shoot a boy so many timesthathevanishes, and \"Alltheycanseearetheholes.\"Amarriedcouplepurchases a tube of orgasms from Amazon only to watch the orgasms turn into bubbles popping above them. And a woman gives birth to herself and tells her husband she needs \"a break and some new clothes.\" Surreal and darkly humorous, the prose poems and stories in this collection glow with the intensity of heaven-and hell.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJeff Friedman shows us the flexibility, stamina, and hilarity of the prose poem in his latest book \u003cem\u003eAshes in Paradise. \u003c\/em\u003eFabulist renditions of the political horror and unease of our times (the pandemic, police violence, political unrest) are set against wry, revisionist Biblical tales and neo-surreal domestic dramas (discounted orgasms delivered by Amazon Prime).... he brilliantly deflects our world's terror back onto the world and we, as readers, see ourselves and laugh an uneasy laugh. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Denise Duhamel, author of \u003cem\u003eSecond Story \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eQueen for a Day: New and Selected Poems \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e... In these short (but in no way slight) poetic surrealist tales we encounter: puppets that go hunting, an underwater beggar, a man who eats a piece of a star, a couple who order orgasms on Amazon, a chair that growls ... With an absurdist's wise irony Friedman makes good sense of what undergirds our very real precepts of what guides us, what trips us up, and what along with us, has its grip on the wheel. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Robert Scotellaro, author of \u003cem\u003eGod in a Can \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eBad Motel \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAshes in Paradise \u003c\/em\u003erevolves around themes of otherness, hope and loss: with recurring holes, monsters, masks, lovers, avocados, animals and dreams, a father and mother, sister and brother. Stars and angels, vampires, spots, chairs, a coyote. A lover giving birth to herself. Jeff Friedman's prose is magical yet real, worldly and otherworldly. This book is a planet of its own. Wonderful, original, \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eand lovely. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e-Kim Chinquee, author of \u003cem\u003eOh Baby \u003c\/em\u003eand \u003cem\u003eWetsuit \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 102\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.24 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 30, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42704134668351,"sku":"9781952335693","price":25.86,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/3d565449cb53894a73a4b4a3e1acf85c.webp?v=1765032157","url":"https:\/\/dhlswag.com\/products\/ashes-in-paradise-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}