{"product_id":"things-i-learned-the-hard-way-paperback","title":"Things I Learned the Hard Way - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eEsteban Colon\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEsteban Colon is one of the most prolific writers on the Chicago scene. His work is darkly humorous, romantically melancholy, deeply personal, and most of all, incredibly honest. This volume of poetry should be opened and treated like whiskey. Take it in in sips. This much truth can hurt if taken in large doses.\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cstrong\u003eDavid \"Buddha 309\" Hargarten\u003c\/strong\u003e, Poet, Publisher at \u003cem\u003eExact Change Only\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Filled with hucksters and hustlers, humor and desire, violence and tenderness, Esteban Colon's \u003cem\u003eThings I Learned the Hard Way\u003c\/em\u003e pulsates with the life of neighborhood. Colon as a young poet grapples with the mysteries of women and of male identity, the vertigo of love and passion, and the upending realities of street-life, marriage, and maturity. Even the joys of adult relationships are not without pangs of ambivalence and resignation, the weight of hot words and memories. Colon's work is filled with droll, exuberant detail, and a buoyant, self-disclosing life-force all its own--an irrepressible vitality that will quickly belong to all its readers. \u003cbr\u003e --\u003cstrong\u003eRalph Hamilton\u003c\/strong\u003e, Editor at \u003cem\u003eRhino\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e In \u003cem\u003eThings I've Learned the Hard Way, \u003c\/em\u003e Esteban Colon gives the reader a glimpse into hard lessons, relationships both sensual and seething, and a world where \"cloud nine doesn't pack parachutes.\" But beyond the loss and disconnection, there is hope and the honest recognition that \"we lie to ourselves\/everyday\/ everyday\/ everyday\/waiting\/for someone to call our bluff.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cstrong\u003eDonna Vorreyer\u003c\/strong\u003e, Poet, Author of \u003cem\u003eA House of Many Windows, We Build Houses of our Bodies, The Imagined life of the Pioneer Wife, Womb Seed Fruit, Ordering the Hours, \u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eCome out Virginia\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e Esteban Colon talks of the kind of deeply personal things that are sappy or embarrassing without ever being sappy or embarrassing. Or self-conscious. Or cliched. He talks about the kinds of things we all live through--one way or another--but the way he says what he says makes it all familiar and new at the same time. Poetry about everyday life that's life like. Entertaining. Exciting. Neat trick. This is simply an outstanding book.\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cstrong\u003eCharlie Newman, \u003c\/strong\u003e Chicago Word Brigade, Author of \u003cem\u003eDead Machine City\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWords, \u003c\/em\u003eand other books of poetry\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eEsteban Colon is a writer and experiential educator from Chicago Heights. He is a founding member of the Waiting 4 the Bus Poetry Collective, the cohost of two poetry venues, and the editor of \u003cem\u003eExact Change Only\u003c\/em\u003e. His works have appeared in various publications, such as \u003cem\u003eRhino, CC\u0026amp;D Magazine, Avatar Review\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eAfter Hours, \u003c\/em\u003e including collections such as \u003cem\u003ePoised in Flight, Things That Go Bump in the Night, The American Open Mic. Vol. 2, \u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003ePoint Mass\u003c\/em\u003e. Previous collections of his works, \u003cem\u003eBetween Blue Lines, \u003c\/em\u003e and the poetic suite \u003cem\u003eEdgar Avenue\u003c\/em\u003e were released as chapbooks by Exact Change Press and Naked Mannequin Press.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 108\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.22 x 9.21 x 6.14 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 03, 2014\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45686609903813,"sku":"9781891386107","price":23.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0757\/6718\/5605\/files\/JK04tC3jM9781891386107.webp?v=1769232276","url":"https:\/\/selloorium.com\/products\/things-i-learned-the-hard-way-paperback","provider":"Selloorium","version":"1.0","type":"link"}