Look: Poems
ISBN 9781555977443
*Finalist for the 2017 PEN Open Book Award*
*Finalist for the 2016 National Book Award*
Solmaz Sharif's astonishing first book, Look, asks us to see the ongoing costs of war as the unbearable loss of human lives and also the insidious abuses against our everyday speech. In this virtuosic array of poems, lists, shards, and sequences, Sharif assembles her family's and her own fragmented narratives in the aftermath of warfare. Those repercussions echo into the present day, in the grief for those killed in America's invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and in the discrimination endured at the checkpoints of daily encounter.
At the same time, these poems point to the ways violence is conducted against our language. Throughout this collection are words and phrases lifted from the Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms; in their seamless inclusion, Sharif exposes the devastating euphemisms deployed to sterilize the language, control its effects, and sway our collective resolve. But Sharif refuses to accept this terminology as given, and instead turns it back on its perpetrators. "Let it matter what we call a thing," she writes. "Let me look at you."
Daily I sit
with the language
they've made
of our language
to NEUTRALIZE
the CAPABILITY of LOW DOLLAR VALUE ITEMs
like you.
You are what is referred to as
a "CASUALTY."
--from "Personal Effects"
Return & Refund
Books: Return within 7 days for store credit, excluding shipping costs.
Non-Book Items:
- In-Person Purchases: Store credit or exchange within 14 days.
- Online Purchases: Full refund within 14 days (shipping excluded).
Exceptions: Textbooks, course packs, and lab manuals are final sale unless a class is dropped within the first 4 weeks from the start of the term with proof of dropping the class.
All Returns: Items must be in original condition with tags/packaging. A receipt is required for in-person refunds.
Read our full Return and Refund Policy.
Shipping & Pickup
- Most in-stock items are processed and shipped through USPS within 72 hours (excluding weekends and holidays) after receiving your order confirmation email. You will receive another notification when your order has shipped.
- Shipping charges and estimated delivery times will be calculated and displayed at checkout based on the weight of your order and the destination.
- Pickup from 939 Lexington Avenue is available for most in-stock items.
- Read our full Shipping Policy.