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Blanco digs deep into the very marrow of our nation through poems that interrogate our past and present, grieve our injustices, and note our flaws, but also remember to celebrate our ideals and cling to our hopes. Charged with the utopian idea that no single narrative is more important than another, this book asserts that America could and ought someday to be a country where all narratives converge into one, a country we can all be proud to love and where we can all truly thrive. The poems form a mosaic of seemingly varied topics: the Pulse nightclub massacre; an unexpected encounter on a visit to Cuba; the forced exile of 8,500 Navajos in 1868; a lynching in Alabama; the arrival of a young Chinese woman at Angel Island in 1938; the incarceration of a gifted writer; and the poet’s abiding love for his partner, who he is finally allowed to wed as a gay man. But despite each poem’s unique concern or occasion, all are fundamentally struggling with the overwhelming question of how to love this country.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780807043073","publication_date":"20200324","publisher":"Beacon Press","slug":"how-to-love-a-country","subtitle":"Poems","title":"How to Love a Country"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"POE005070","confidence_band":"high","label":"Hispanic American Poetry","score":0.817,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"POE023040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Place Poetry","score":0.7821,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"POE005010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"American Poetry","score":0.7796,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"POE005070","confidence_band":"high","label":"Hispanic American Poetry","score":0.817,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"POE023040","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Place Poetry","score":0.7821,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"POE005010","confidence_band":"medium","label":"American Poetry","score":0.7796,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"POE005010","confidence_band":"high","label":"American Poetry","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"POE005070","confidence_band":"high","label":"Hispanic American Poetry","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"POE021000","confidence_band":"high","label":"LGBTQ+ Poetry","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Hispanic American Poetry","score":0.817,"slug":"hispanic-american-poetry"},{"label":"Place Poetry","score":0.7821,"slug":"place-poetry"},{"label":"American Poetry","score":0.7796,"slug":"american-poetry"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers interested in accessible poems about U.S. social and political issues","Readers drawn to poetry reflecting on national identity, injustice, and hope"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Richard Blanco"],"book_id":"9780807012970","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780807012970.jpg?v=37e6d0961d8915b5","score":0.7951,"title":"Homeland of My Body","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780807012970"},{"authors":["Rigoberto González"],"book_id":"9781598537833","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781598537833.jpg?v=1abcfe3529df3d85","score":0.7542,"title":"Latino Poetry: the Library of America Anthology (LOA #382)","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781598537833"},{"authors":["José Olivarez"],"book_id":"9781250878472","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781250878472.jpg?v=3012ff909564d301","score":0.7406,"title":"Promises of Gold","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781250878472"},{"authors":["Natalie Diaz"],"book_id":"9781644450147","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781644450147.jpg?v=a8ba8182554f20a3","score":0.7278,"title":"Postcolonial Love Poem","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781644450147"},{"authors":["Eduardo C. 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