{"product_id":"the-monster-i-am-today-leontyne-price-and-a-life-in-verse-paperback","title":"The Monster I Am Today: Leontyne Price and a Life in Verse - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eKevin Simmonds\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeontyne Price remains one of the twentieth century's most revered opera singers and, notably, the first African American to achieve such international acclaim. In movements encompassing poetry and prose, writer and musician Kevin Simmonds explores Price as an icon, a diva, a woman, and a patriot--and himself as a fan, a budding singer, and a gay man--through passages that move polyphonically through the contested spaces of Black identity, Black sound, Black sensibility, and Black history. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Structured operatically into overture, acts, and postlude, \u003ci\u003eThe Monster I Am Today\u003c\/i\u003e guides the reader through associative shifts from arias like \"weather events\" and Price's forty-two-minute final ovation to memories of Simmonds's coming of age in New Orleans. As he melds lyric forms with the biography of one of classical music's greatest virtuosos, Simmonds composes a duet that spotlights Price's profound influence on him as a person and an artist: \"That's how I hear: Her.\"\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eKEVIN SIMMONDS\u003c\/b\u003e is a musician and writer originally from New Orleans. He studied music at Vanderbilt University and the University of South Carolina. He is the author of two poetry collections, \u003ci\u003eMad for Meat\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBend to It\u003c\/i\u003e, and the editor of \u003ci\u003eCollective Brightness: LGBTIQ Poets on Faith, Religion and Spirituality\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e Ota Benga under My Mother's Roof\u003c\/i\u003e, a posthumously published collection by Carrie Allen McCray. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 184\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 x 8.9 x 5.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e July 15, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51768174870816,"sku":"9780810143746","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/1e483ac056ce72967db011e778ee5616.webp?v=1780326428","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-monster-i-am-today-leontyne-price-and-a-life-in-verse-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}