{"product_id":"close-escapes-paperback","title":"Close Escapes - 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\u003eStephen Kuusisto\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNavigating a sightless world with intelligence and dark humor, \u003cem\u003eClose Escapes \u003c\/em\u003esearches for an answer to our earthly existence by way of visions only the blind can see. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Never 'in' time,\" Stephen Kuusisto's third poetry collection, \u003cem\u003eClose Escapes\u003c\/em\u003e, moves through a river of memory. In one poem, Kuusisto is \"the blind kid again,\" pressing his finger to a cornered spider. In another, he walks down a harbor in Helsinki, \"still twenty-three among the Baltic gulls.\" Adrift in time and place-Tallinn, New York, a Velamo monastery--our anchor is the poet, navigating a sightless world with intelligence and dark humor. As Kuusisto moves forward through meditations on beauty, \"dark joy,\" loss, aging, and the afterlife, he also reaches back, talking to writers, musicians, and thinkers of the past--Orwell, Marvin Bell, Salvatore Quasimodo. In one scene, Kuusisto ponders death, asking Bach to \"Tell [him] of the galant flourishes \/ As we leave this life.\" Readers, alongside Kuusisto, are left reaching for that \"frail wisdom,\" for an answer to the question of our earthly existence. We find tenderness in our human connections, both lasting and fleeting, sometimes gone. We drift onward, learning to find \"music in human silence.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eStephen Kuusisto\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the poetry collections \u003ci\u003eOnly Bread, Only Light\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLetters to Borges\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOld Horse\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWhat Is to Be Done?\u003c\/i\u003e and, most recently, \u003ci\u003eSomeone Falls Overboard: Talking Through Poems\u003c\/i\u003e with Ralph James Savarese. His memoir \u003ci\u003ePlanet of the Blind\u003c\/i\u003e was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and has since been followed by \u003ci\u003eEavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHave Dog, Will Travel: A Poet's Journey\u003c\/i\u003e. A Guggenheim fellow and Fulbright Scholar, Kuusisto has appeared on numerous television and radio programs including \u003ci\u003eThe Oprah Winfrey Show\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDateline\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAll Things Considered\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMorning Edition\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTalk of the Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eAnimal Planet\u003c\/i\u003e. His daily blog, \u003ci\u003ePlanet of the Blind\u003c\/i\u003e, is read globally by people interested in disability and contemporary culture. Kuusisto directs The Burton Blatt Institute's interdisciplinary programs in disability at Syracuse University, where he holds a University Professorship.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 136\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.33 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 22, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43153430446143,"sku":"9781556596896","price":18.36,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/tcYVV0qnPT9781556596896.webp?v=1776947358","url":"https:\/\/dhl-adrianne.myshopify.com\/products\/close-escapes-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}