{"title":"Gary Soto","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"neighborhood-odes","title":"Neighborhood Odes","description":"Award-winning poet Gary Soto and Caldecott winner David Diaz turn their eyes on the world of kids. From family pictures to pinatas, from the \u003cem\u003egato \u003c\/em\u003ewith a meow like a rusty latch to Fourth of July fireworks, the startling and often overlooked moments that define childhood are vividly brought to life by these two acclaimed talents.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Gary Soto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43793347379242,"sku":"9780152053642","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/neighborhood-odes-2174045.jpg?v=1762150109"},{"product_id":"gary-soto-new-and-selected-poems-contemporary-american-poetry-poetry-books-for-teens-and-adults","title":"Gary Soto: New and Selected Poems (Contemporary American Poetry, Poetry Books for Teens and Adults)","description":"For over two decades, the award-winning poet and author Gary Soto has been offering his readers a vision that transcends the ordinary, making him one of today's most celebrated Chicano writers. \u003ci\u003eNew and Selected Poems\u003c\/i\u003e includes the best of his seven full-length collections, plus over 23 new poems previously unpublished in book form. From the charged, short-lined poems of Soto's early writing to an unflinching look at poverty and hard labor in California's Central Valley to the off-beat humor in his longer, more recent work, \u003ci\u003eNew and Selected Poems\u003c\/i\u003e is a timely tribute to a brilliant writer whose work confirms the power of the human spirit to survive and soar.","brand":"Gary Soto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43793347772458,"sku":"9780811807586","price":15.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/gary-soto-new-and-selected-poems-contemporary-american-poetry-poetry-books-for-teens-and-adults-6011213.jpg?v=1762150109"},{"product_id":"meatballs-for-the-people","title":"Meatballs for the People","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMeatballs for the People: Proverbs to Chew On\u003c\/i\u003e is a collection of witty and digestible aphorisms for our times.\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gary Soto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43793347870762,"sku":"9781597096010","price":9.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/meatballs-for-the-people-8680817.jpg?v=1762150109"},{"product_id":"natural-man","title":"Natural Man","description":"In this new collection of poetry, National Book Award finalist Gary Soto tackles the shabby reality of the world around him and turns it into vivid poetry. Drawing on the Chicano slang of the barrio, Soto gives authentic voice to portraits of life set mostly in California's San Joaquin Valley, where he was born and raised. The theme of the poet as troubadour runs throughout the bookthere is a wry humor in Soto's description of the drunken narrator of \"The Mariachi Suit,\" who, with \"spurs jangling music\" and a \"guitar like a small coffin in my arms,\" serenades an audience of cats, \"Who yawn, lick the clover pads\/Of their salty paws, and prance away.\" A delightful poem to Soto's wife of 23 years (\"Meat and Potatoes\") playfully contrasts a miserable bachelor meal with the exotic cooking of the woman next door: \"Love was at her table, \/A fork going to her mouth and the noodles, \/How delicious, easy to swallow.\" These new poems will please Soto's many admirers, and the edgy voice of \u003ci\u003eA Natural Man\u003c\/i\u003e is sure to convert even more.","brand":"Gary Soto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43793348263978,"sku":"9780811825184","price":13.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/natural-man-6137572.jpg?v=1762150108"},{"product_id":"sudden-loss-of-dignity","title":"Sudden Loss of Dignity","description":"\u003ci\u003eSudden Loss of Dignity\u003c\/i\u003e represents where Gary Soto is in his life. He finds himself positioned in life as the older gent, or old guy. His poetry mirrors his personality, snarky and full of mockery. Soto writes about mainly aging and the loss of one's dignity as the years pass. It's very funny, poignant, sad, and especially true.","brand":"Gary Soto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44059986133034,"sku":"9781622880058","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/sudden-loss-of-dignity-9679670.jpg?v=1770446112"},{"product_id":"downtime","title":"Downtime","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe poet writes, \u003c\/p\u003e\"The Monday when Daylight Savings, 2021, kicked in, I was left in the dark. The morning light appeared in our eastern window, then was gone by the time I finished washing the lunchtime dishes. The daytime was downright stingy in offering sunlight's optimism. A few days later, while I was on my couch with an Afghan around my legs, I sat up from my ten-minute nap, struck by a bright idea. I would write a hundred poems in a hundred days-why not? I pictured myself licking the end of a pencil to get them written in sort of a captain's log-do it longhand, I told myself. I woke before sunrise, wrote, revised, and got a poem done by lunchtime. Ambitious me. In truth this Hundred Poems Project was absurd. I knew-other poet friends knew-that more than half would end up the fireplace if not the angry teeth of our paper shredder. For me, that was a given. The act of writing mattered-keep it going, I told myself, be like a beaver and chew on a pencil, put down some lines, don't forsake this craft! This private project of mine was a reminder to myself that after five decades I remain a poet, a calling few can claim. I provide forty-eight of the one hundred poems written that fall. I like to think of this period as my downtime on the couch. The writing was anything but restful.\"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gary Soto","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44059986198570,"sku":"9781957062051","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0690\/0891\/6522\/files\/downtime-6453098.jpg?v=1770446112"}],"url":"https:\/\/thepoetryshop.com\/collections\/gary-soto.oembed","provider":"The Poetry Shop LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}