Zoopoetics assumes Aristotle was right. The general origin of poetry resides, in part, in the instinct to imitate. But it is an innovative imitation. An exploration of the oeuvres of Walt Whitman, E. E. Cummings, W. S. Merwin, and Brenda Hillman reveals the many places where an imitation of another species’ poiesis (Greek, makings) contributes to breakthroughs in poetic form. However, humans are not the only imitators in the animal kingdom. Other species, too, achieve breakthroughs in thei...

Ecocriticism and the Poiesis of Form: Holding on to Proteus demonstrates how a fractal imagination helps one hold the form of a poem within the reaches of Deep Time, and it explores the kinship between the hazy, liminal moment when Sound becomes Syllable and the hazy, liminal moment when the sage energy of the Atom made a leap toward the gaze of the first cell, to echo Merwin. Moe distills his methodology as follows: "My work?—I point," asserted the aphorism. "That’s what...

"Therapy dogs are specially trained animals whose job is to help people feel better in a variety of settings. This book shares the stories of Sunny, Oreo, and Poppy, a pack of therapy dogs in Michigan. They specialize in helping kids who have gone through tough times as part of the Therapy Dog Clinic at Western Michigan University. They also support folks in schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and even disaster sites."

In this companion volume to Animals in the American Classics: How Natural History Inspired Great Fiction, John Cullen Gruesser brings together leading experts who explore the integral role animals play in American poetry. The ten essays in Animals in Classic American Poetry: How Natural History Inspired Great Verse showcase how the natural history of and imagery relating to animals have inspired some of America’s best-known and most beloved poets.The book highligh...

"Ursula Le Guin at her best . . . This is an important collection of eloquent, elegant pieces by one of our most acclaimed contemporary writers." —Elizabeth Hand, The Washington Post Book World"I have decided that the trouble with print is, it never changes its mind," writes Ursula K. Le Guin in her introduction to Dancing at the Edge of the World. But she has, and here is the record of that change in the decade since the publication of her last n...

The legendary reporter and author of The Right Stuff takes on Darwin, Chomsky, and the origin of language in "his boldest bit of dueling yet" ( The New York Times).Tom Wolfe, the great journalist-provocateur, aims his piercing wit at the presiding theories of what makes us human. The Kingdom of Speech is a captivating, paradigm-shifting argument that speech—not evolution—is responsible for humanity's com...

Finalist for Pulitzer Prize for General NonfictionFinalist for National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionPronged ants, horned humans, a landscape carved on a fruit pit--some of the displays in David Wilson's Museum of Jurassic Technology are hoaxes. But which ones? As he guides readers through an intellectual hall of mirrors, Lawrence Weschler revisits the 16th-century "wonder cabinets" that were the first museums and compels readers to examine the imaginative origins...

A revered ecologist and conservationist examines the origins and possible futures of humankind within the context of the Space Age, masterfully “[communicating] the awesome spectacle of our environmental crisis” (New York Times Book Review)To read Loren Eiseley is to renew a sense of wonder at the miracles and paradoxes of evolution and the ever-changing diversity of life. In this brilliant collection, he considers the cosmological significance and ultimat...

Help kids recognize feelings of worry and develop healthy ways to copeWorries and what ifs pop up all the time—and then they go away again. In Worries Are Not Forever, children learn that worrying thoughts are safe and fleeting. Whether their worries are big or small, this reassuring book shows kids ages 4–7 how to shrink worried thoughts by talking about them, asking for a hug, going outside, moving around, and replacing anxious thoughts with happier ones...

Reissued in a handsome A List edition, the largest collection of critical prose to date from world renowned author and poet Margaret Atwood, featuring an introduction by Lennie Goodings.Originally published in 1982, Second Words brings together fifty of Margaret Atwood’s finest essays and reviews spanning two decades, beginning in 1962, with an introduction and commentary by the author.With her incomparable wit and originality, Atwood discusses the...

A delightful and provocative journey across four decades of contemporary American poetry with Stephanie Burt, “the leading poetry critic of her generation” (New York Times), as our surefooted guide.In The Poem Is You, critic and poet Stephanie Burt canvasses contemporary American poetry —from the urgency of Claudia Rankine’s Citizento the limitless energy of Juan Felipe Herrera and the erotic provocations of D. A. Powell.Burt presents a range of s...

In these hectic times, kids can become overwhelmed with activities that are a distraction from home and family. This 32-page book can help keep it all in perspective, as well as provide suggestions on how to keep family time fun.