{"product_id":"the-life-assignment-paperback","title":"The Life Assignment - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRicardo Alberto Maldonado\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe speaker of the poems in \u003ci\u003eThe Life Assignment \u003c\/i\u003eis reviewing his history. As if sorting through a box of photographs, the speaker sorts through relationships, trying to discern what was healthy from what was exploitative. Concepts of love are turned over and over in these poems: romantic love, love of family, love of country, self-love (or lack thereof). Often the speaker finds that what at first appeared to be caring, was insincere all along. When tenderness is in short supply, how can one protect himself? How can one find home? In his debut collection, Ricardo Alberto Maldonado bends poems through bilingual lyrics that present spartan observation as evidence for its exacting verdict: \"We never leave when life is elsewhere. The clemency of men disappears \/ as does the light, tarring the roofs.\" An electric debut collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eRicardo Alberto Maldonado was born and raised in Puerto Rico. He is the co-editor of \u003ci\u003ePuerto Rico en mi corazón \u003c\/i\u003eand the recipient of fellowships from CantoMundo, the New York Foundation for the Arts and QueerArtsMentorship. He lives in New York, where he serves as managing director at 92Y's Unterberg Poetry Center.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 80\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.4 x 9 x 5.8 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 08, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42699638833215,"sku":"9781945588549","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/8a8e2b9cbd1bc500818aca9832242a47.webp?v=1765013993","url":"https:\/\/dhl-adrianne.myshopify.com\/products\/the-life-assignment-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}