{"product_id":"even-in-the-slums-of-providence-paperback","title":"Even in the Slums of Providence - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLarry Pike\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA thoughtful and accessible debut, \u003cem\u003eEven in the Slums of Providence\u003c\/em\u003e explores elements that define our lives-love, family, work, aging, faith. Through these poems, Larry Pike travels a long arc of experience to appreciation and understanding of the gifts, great and small, we receive: wearing thin a lawn during a neighborhood ball game; dealing with a rugged, worldly coworker on a first job; savoring mint juleps with dear friends; watching a grandmother admire her teenaged grandson on Christmas Eve; mourning a friend's father at a socially-distanced funeral. Readers will find much in their own lives reflected in the emotion and humor of these poems.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn in Georgia and raised in North Carolina, Pike has lived in Kentucky for forty-five years. The strong Southern emphases on home and place clearly influence his work. He employs a keen eye to enlarge and enliven ordinary events (enjoying ice cream at a sidewalk café), as well as the harrowing (facing a wild, illegal border crossing) and majestic (viewing a nighttime Space Shuttle launch at close range).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEven in the Slums of Providence\u003c\/em\u003e is a warm, unpretentious collection. It celebrates, sometimes wryly, common occurrences, such as learning to drive, an afternoon at the movies or watching newlyweds hunting for a home on HGTV, going with one's dad to buy dress shoes, and running a routine errand. The poems marvel at special times that connect us to one another and the world around us. They also help us consider critical life questions, like the injustices we incite and endure and our mortality. Even when contemplating difficult themes, these verses reveal a grateful, inquisitive observer happily at work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe poems are grouped in three sections. The volume begins with \"In the Driveway,\" which won the 2003 Joy Bale Boone Poetry Award, and includes the 2017 George Scarbrough Prize winner, \"Wildflower Walk.\" The book's title comes from a line in the closing poem, \"On Seeing the Van Goghs in Chicago.\" Poems in this collection have appeared in a number of journals, including \u003cem\u003eBetter Than Starbucks, Capsule Stories, C sura \u003c\/em\u003e(web edition), \u003cem\u003eExposition Review, \u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eFathom Magazine, \u003c\/em\u003e \u003cem\u003eHalfway Down the Stairs, Jelly Bucket\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eRiver and South Review\u003c\/em\u003e, and several anthologies, including \u003cem\u003eHeat the Grease, We're Frying Up Some Poetry\u003c\/em\u003e and the New York Quarterly Foundation's \u003cem\u003eWithout a Doubt: poems illuminating faith\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 82\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.2 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 22, 2021\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42158522466439,"sku":"9781646626625","price":28.78,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/57bbdfc8dd8284b72f7e1d55fb53a1cd.webp?v=1733259447","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/even-in-the-slums-of-providence-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}