Metaphysical Dog

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner Winner of the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry A National Book Award Finalist A vital, searching new collection from one of finest American poets at work today In "Those Nights," Frank Bidart writes: "We who could get / somewhere through / words through / sex could not." Words and sex, art and flesh: In Metaphysical Dog, Bidart explores their nexus. The result stands among this deeply adventurous poet's most powerful and achieved work, an emotionally naked, fearlessly candid journey through many of the central axes, the central conflicts, of his life, and ours. Near the end of the book, Bidart writes: In adolescence, you thought your work ancient work: to decipher at last human beings' relation to God. Decipher love. To make what was once whole whole again: or to see why it never should have been thought whole. This "ancient work" reflects what the poet sees as fundamental in human feeling, what psychologists and mystics have called the "hunger for the Absolute"—a hunger as fundamental as any physical hunger. This hunger must confront the elusiveness of the Absolute, our self-deluding, failed glimpses of it. The third section of the book is titled "History is a series of failed revelations." The result is one of the most fascinating and ambitious books of poetry in many years. One of Publishers Weekly's Best Poetry Books of 2013 A New York Times Notable Book of 2013 An NPR Best Book of 2013

Eros is a poodle puppy, born in rural New Jersey. He is a prodigy when it comes to questions, although his prodigiousness ends when it comes to answers—for now. As just a puppy, there is much to learn before Eros can enter the wild, a fascinating and dangerous place for dogs and humans alike. He hones his skills for the sole purpose of survival. It takes time for young Eros to realize that life is about much more than survival; life is about finding happiness. However, to find happiness, it is imperative that Eros grows stronger, fights better, and finds time to play. There will be difficulties, of course, but the drive to survive inspires endurance in the young pup as he seeks purpose and love. When Eros believes happiness is out there waiting, it is! He discovers that finding happiness is not hard if he keeps his eyes open. In this playful allegory, there is much to learn from a poodle puppy, but the wisest thing Eros ever learned: “The purpose of life is to find happiness, and you can only discover happiness through the knowledge that you find.”

• Reveals the principles of the secret language of the animal kingdom to help you communicate with your pet and read their signals • Offers cutting-edge, unique solutions to everyday canine problems by looking at behavioral issues through the lens of your pet’s emotions • Shares training exercises and powerful meditative practices to do with your pet as well as on your own to help soothe anxiety, overcome aggression issues, and transform tension into harmony Are you aware of the body signals through which your dog shares his or her perspective of the world with you? Understanding the language of your pet allows you to communicate better and naturally transform your dog into a calm, relaxed companion for life. In this guide, meditation teacher and dog trainer Jesse Sternberg reveals the principles of the secret language of the animal kingdom and offers commonsense yet unique solutions to everyday canine behavioral problems. Using case studies that resonate with every pet owner and dog lover, he explains how most of our pets’ issues arise from intense feelings caused by the environment, ourselves, or prior conditioning and how these emotions are acted out by the dog. Combining mindfulness teachings with animal psychology, Jesse suggests training exercises and powerful meditative practices to do with your pet as well as on your own to help build a calm and peaceful mindset for both your dog and yourself, so eventually you will find yourselves aligned and able to gracefully master even unexpected situations. Enlightened Dog Training offers unique training techniques for soothing anxiety, healing neuroses, overcoming aggression issues, and transforming tension into harmony. Communicate nonverbally with your dog using the signals dogs use with each other and address problems with leash training and guarding resources and territory. Helping you cultivate empathy, awareness, and confidence to become the peaceful alpha your dog craves, this guide shows how to strengthen your human-animal bond, communicate with actions, and command with respect and love.

Winner of the Giller Prize 2015 Winner of the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize 2015 It begins in a bar, like so many strange stories. The gods Hermes and Apollo argue about what would happen if animals had human intelligence, so they make a bet that leads them to grant consciousness and language to a group of dogs staying overnight at a veterinary clinic. Suddenly capable of complex thought, the dogs escape and become a pack. They are torn between those who resist the new ways of thinking, preferring the old 'dog' ways, and those who embrace the change. The gods watch from above as the dogs venture into unfamiliar territory, as they become divided among themselves, as each struggles with new thoughts and feelings. Wily Benjy moves from home to home, Prince becomes a poet, and Majnoun forges a relationship with a kind couple that stops even the Fates in their tracks. Engaging and strange, full of unexpected insights into human and canine minds, this contemporary take on the apologue is the most extraordinary book you'll read this year.

The collected works of one of contemporary poetry’s most original voices Gathered together, the poems of Frank Bidart perform one of the most remarkable transmutations of the body into language in contemporary literature. His pages represent the human voice in all its extreme registers, whether it’s that of the child-murderer Herbert White, the obsessive anorexic Ellen West, the tormented genius Vaslav Nijinsky, or the poet’s own. And in that embodiment is a transgressive empathy, one that recognizes our wild appetites, the monsters, the misfits, the misunderstood among us and inside us. Few writers have so willingly ventured to the dark places of the human psyche and allowed themselves to be stripped bare on the page with such candor and vulnerability. Over the past half century, Bidart has done nothing less than invent a poetics commensurate with the chaos and appetites of our experience. Half-light encompasses all of Bidart’s previous books, and also includes a new collection, Thirst, in which the poet austerely surveys his life, laying it plain for us before venturing into something new and unknown. Here Bidart finds himself a “Creature coterminous with thirst,” still longing, still searching in himself, one of the “queers of the universe.” Visionary and revelatory, intimate and unguarded, Bidart’s Half-light: Collected Poems 1965-2017 are a radical confrontation with human nature, a conflict eternally renewed and reframed, restless line by restless line.

RUSSELL IS NO ORDINARY DOG You are about to embark on an expansive journey of the soul. From the first page of this extraordinary story, an exciting adventure unfolds. Russell is no ordinary dog. By choice, he has come into this life with a unique dual purpose - to experience his present life as a dog and to review his previous life as a man named Pete. One of his special abilities is to telepathically hear and communicate with other animals, his Spirit Guides and even people when necessary for his growth. In the process Russell learns about the common threads of each incarnation that weave the fabric of his destiny. His journey is multi-dimensional taking him through numerous experiences triggering a spectrum of emotions which he resists. From a dog's point of view and that of a soul who has had many previous human lifetimes, he is taught about reincarnation, karma, grace, unlimited thinking, and forgiveness. Trisha Watson takes us on a spiritual adventure that is skillfully crafted. You will laugh, cry and possibly find answers to questions you may have contemplated in your own spiritual adventure. May you be inspired. "Brilliantly captures Russell's earthly thoughts and emotions set against the backdrop of his quest to find spiritual meaning in his life. You will feel a spectrum of emotions as you embark on a journey into the world of Russell the Dog." --James Schwartz, Author of One Voice, Sacred Wisdom and The Mind-Body Fertility Connection

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner A National Book Award Finalist A vital, searching new collection from one of finest American poets at work today In "Those Nights," Frank Bidart writes: "We who could get / somewhere through / words through / sex could not." Words and sex, art and flesh: In Metaphysical Dog, Bidart explores their nexus. The result stands among this deeply adventurous poet's most powerful and achieved work, an emotionally naked, fearlessly candid journey through many of the central axes, the central conflicts, of his life, and ours. Near the end of the book, Bidart writes: In adolescence, you thought your work ancient work: to decipher at last human beings' relation to God. Decipher love. To make what was once whole whole again: or to see why it never should have been thought whole. This "ancient work" reflects what the poet sees as fundamental in human feeling, what psychologists and mystics have called the "hunger for the Absolute"—a hunger as fundamental as any physical hunger. This hunger must confront the elusiveness of the Absolute, our self-deluding, failed glimpses of it. The third section of the book is titled "History is a series of failed revelations." The result is one of the most fascinating and ambitious books of poetry in many years. One of Publishers Weekly's Best Poetry Books of 2013 A New York Times Notable Book of 2013 An NPR Best Book of 2013

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