{"product_id":"the-art-of-mercy-new-and-selected-poems-paperback","title":"The Art of Mercy: New and Selected Poems - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRobert L. Penick\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRobert L. Penick's short, masterful poems have been showing up in small press magazines since the early 1990s. The Art of Mercy, his first full-length collection, contains excerpts from four chapbooks, as well as fifty-seven new and previously uncollected poems. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA native of Louisville, Kentucky, Penick is a true man of the streets, chronicling with clear-eyed sensitivity the ordinary lives of marginalized people, the elderly, the forgotten, the blue-collar workplace, the seductions of alcohol, and the heartbreak of failed relationships.. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWritten in a straightforward narrative style, with deft use of metaphor, these poems sneak up on you with understated dignity. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe 100 poems collected in The Art of Mercy represent the best of a long, quiet career in the poetry trenches. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Penick's own words: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This book took forty years of staring out of windows, finding release in booze and borrowed women, and scraping away at an indistinct idea of kindness and deliverance, the way a would-be prison escapee would work on a cement seam, hoping someday to see the daylight on the other side of the wall. Along the way, I've acquired a good command of cliche-less narrative. My major accomplishment: Stamina.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 128\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.4 x 8.9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 15, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51765493334304,"sku":"9781942493907","price":18.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/225adf0b6539036d967f7ffd4f2328ee.webp?v=1780271657","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-art-of-mercy-new-and-selected-poems-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}