{"product_id":"when-you-read-a-novel","title":"When You Read a Novel the Dead Would Like","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(139, 0, 0);\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"product-subtitle subtitle-15123\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eComing October 6th, 2026 - \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eBooks will ship the final week of September\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003ePreorder now\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(139, 0, 0);\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"product-subtitle subtitle-15123\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e!\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eHow does mortality shape our understanding of life? The poems of Grossberg’s \u003cem\u003eWhen We Read a Novel the Dead Would Like \u003c\/em\u003espan the trauma of coming out as a gay man at the height of the US AIDS epidemic to the advent of PrEP—a class of HIV-prevention drugs—twenty-five years later. Grossberg wrestles with the growing awareness that, though one bugbear may press less close, death still waits, patient and inevitable. A series of elegies for the poet’s mother, who returns as a wry, irreverent ghost “swirling \/ ice cubes in a tumbler of vodka,” lies at the heart of this ranging, cinematic collection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cimg style=\"margin-right: 4px; margin-bottom: 2px; float: left;\" alt=\"Photo by Seshu Photography\" height=\"178\" width=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0701\/5176\/6243\/files\/GrossbergPhoto_160x160.jpg?v=1775659127\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(0, 0, 0);\"\u003eBenjamin S. Grossberg\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e’s collections of poetry include \u003cem\u003eMy Husband Would \u003c\/em\u003e(University of Tampa Press, 2020), winner of the Connecticut Book Award, and \u003cem\u003eSweet Core Orchard \u003c\/em\u003e(University of Tampa Press, 2009), winner of a Lambda Literary Award. His novel, \u003cem\u003eThe Spring before Obergefell \u003c\/em\u003e(University of Nebraska Press, 2024), selected by Percival Everett for the AWP’s James Alan McPherson Prize, also received a Lambda Literary Award. His poems have appeared widely, including in The Pushcart Prize and Best American Poetry anthologies. Ben is Director of Creative Writing at the University of Hartford.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Cavankerry Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48744978120931,"sku":null,"price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0701\/5176\/6243\/files\/9781960327215new.jpg?v=1775659077","url":"https:\/\/cavankerrypress.org\/products\/when-you-read-a-novel","provider":"CavanKerry Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}