{"product_id":"well-waiting-room-paperback-softback-9780823297771","title":"Well Waiting Room (Paperback \/ softback) 9780823297771","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eWell Waiting Room\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eStephanie Ellis Schlaifer (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780823297771\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 5 October 2021\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e112 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 0.9 cm, 0.184 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA collection of poems that contemplate the bureaucracy of the mind through interior \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003epolitical cabinets\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Taking its name from the banal, purgatorial space outside (but inside) a doctor's office, \u003ci\u003eWell \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eWaiting Room\u003c\/i\u003e  imagines the conversations we have with ourselves at this liminal site as an exchange between interior bureaucrats, each of whom governs a particular aspect of the psyche. The poems explore the dynamics of this political ministry, which includes the Cabinets of Desire, Indulgences, Self-Preservation, Ordinary Affairs, Ambivalence, Confrontations, and many others—there's even a press secretary, a curator, and a general counsel. Like a cabinet of curiosity wrapped in red tape, the poems examine the compartmentalization of the mind and the confounding news of the day.\u003cbr\u003e Formally, the poems range from dramatic monologues to combative sonnets, quippy memos to voice-y prose blocks, incantatory interludes to dreamlike visual landscapes. Sometimes, the poems address a purely internal conflict: Why do we lie to ourselves, indulge in \u003ci\u003eschadenfreude\u003c\/i\u003e, repeat the same mistakes? Other times, the poetic lens points outward like a spear, confronting the external universe: social injustice, polar ice melt, the Trump administration, and other man-made disasters. But in both universes, the poems find joy: the first observation of gravitational waves, the otherworldly beauty of rare marine species, the discovery that you are your own best way out.\u003cbr\u003e For Schlaifer, the underlying question is an epistemological one, an ontological one, a theological one. Why are we here, how do we know things, and why does God—so often—seem to be working against us? In Schlaifer's bureaucratic vision of the mind, readers will see their own internal voices affectingly (and often humorously) reflected. The book traverses unknowable terrain in sturdy boots. It unearths not answers but better questions for our time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Ambassador of the Interior Has a Talking-to with the Minister of the Cabinet of Vengeance   1\u003cbr\u003e A Member of the Cabinet of Culpabilities Challenges the Cabinet's Minister   2\u003cbr\u003e Dictation from the Autocrat of the Interior   4\u003cbr\u003e Open Letter to the Minister of the Cabinet of Denial (\u003ci\u003eThe Quick\u003c\/i\u003e)   5\u003cbr\u003e The Cabinet of Slippery Slopes   6\u003cbr\u003e MEMORANDUM (\u003ci\u003eWe have to do it all again\u003c\/i\u003e)   8\u003cbr\u003e From the Cabinet of Counterweights \u0026amp; Measures   9\u003cbr\u003e The Documentarian of the Interior Opposes the Bill from the Minister of the Cabinet of Nostalgia   11\u003cbr\u003e The Cabinet of Ontology   12\u003cbr\u003e From the Cabinet of Origin Stories   14\u003cbr\u003e Response to the Minister of the Cabinet of Doctrines   16\u003cbr\u003e From the Curator of the Interior   18\u003cbr\u003e The Minister of the Cabinet of Self-Preservation   21\u003cbr\u003e PSA from the Broadcast Service of the Interior   23\u003cbr\u003e The Chamber of Chronicles   24\u003cbr\u003e MEMORANDUM (\u003ci\u003eSublimation\u003c\/i\u003e)   26\u003cbr\u003e From the Archivist of the Interior (Make Yourself Great Again)   27\u003cbr\u003e From the Outbox of the Minister of the Cabinet of Desire   28\u003cbr\u003e At the Assembly of the Governing Bodies (\u003ci\u003eRed Tape\u003c\/i\u003e)   29\u003cbr\u003e From the Minister of the Cabinet of Persuasions   32\u003cbr\u003e From the Cabinet of Unconsciousness (\u003ci\u003eTeeth\u003c\/i\u003e)   34\u003cbr\u003e The Minister of the Cabinet of Indulgences Pardons the Minister of the Cabinet of Desire   35\u003cbr\u003e From the Minister of the Cabinet of Equivocations   36\u003cbr\u003e Response to the Cabinet of Definitives (\u003ci\u003eZoological Fantasy\u003c\/i\u003e)   38\u003cbr\u003e Riposte to the Cabinet of Consolations   42\u003cbr\u003e MEMORANDUM (\u003ci\u003eUbiquity\u003c\/i\u003e)   43\u003cbr\u003e The Minister of the Cabinet of Bespoke Futures   44\u003cbr\u003e From the Minister of the Cabinet of Admonition   46\u003cbr\u003e From the Cabinet of Unconsciousness (\u003ci\u003eWell Waiting Room\u003c\/i\u003e)   47\u003cbr\u003e At the Assembly of the Governing Bodies, the Minister of the Cabinet of Oversight Makes a Motion to\u003cbr\u003e Consolidate, and the Speaker of the House of the Interior Just Goes Along with It   48\u003cbr\u003e The Minister of the Cabinet of Immateriality   49\u003cbr\u003e MEMORANDUM (\u003ci\u003eWithholdings\u003c\/i\u003e)   51\u003cbr\u003e From the Cabinet of Unconsciousness (\u003ci\u003eWhaling\u003c\/i\u003e)   52\u003cbr\u003e From the Minister of the Cabinet of Ordinary Affairs   54\u003cbr\u003e The Cabinet of Lesser Offenses   56\u003cbr\u003e From the Minister of the Cabinet of Retribution   58\u003cbr\u003e From the Analyst of the Anterior   59\u003cbr\u003e MEMORANDUM (\u003ci\u003eImpasse\u003c\/i\u003e)   60\u003cbr\u003e From the Cabinet of Unconsciousness (\u003ci\u003eNo Man's Land\u003c\/i\u003e)   61\u003cbr\u003e The Minister of the Cabinet of Decorum   62\u003cbr\u003e The Minister of the Cabinet of Covenants Argues with the Minister of the Cabinet of Desire   65\u003cbr\u003e The Cabinet of Reason   66\u003cbr\u003e The Minister of the Cabinet of Confrontations   67\u003cbr\u003e The Minister of the Cabinet of Vengeance Issues a Decree   68\u003cbr\u003e To the Cabinet of Ambivalences (\u003ci\u003eUNANSWD\/UNHRD\u003c\/i\u003e)   69\u003cbr\u003e From the Press Secretary of the Interior (Confirmed Reports)   71\u003cbr\u003e MEMORANDUM (\u003ci\u003eOverstory\u003c\/i\u003e)   74\u003cbr\u003e From the Cabinet of Survival Mechanisms   75\u003cbr\u003e From the Cabinet of Unconsciousness (\u003ci\u003eUnremittingness\u003c\/i\u003e)   76\u003cbr\u003e From the Minister of the Cabinet of Reason (\u003ci\u003ere: Your Indulgent Hopefulness in an Afterlife\u003c\/i\u003e)   77\u003cbr\u003e The Minister of the Cabinet of Disasters   79\u003cbr\u003e From the Minister of the Cabinet of Unconsciousness (\u003ci\u003eNatalie \u0026amp; the Waves\u003c\/i\u003e)   80\u003cbr\u003e MEMORANDUM (\u003ci\u003eVerisimilitude\u003c\/i\u003e)   83\u003cbr\u003e Bulletins from the Cloud Cabinet   84\u003cbr\u003e Rebuttal from the General Counsel of the Interior   85\u003cbr\u003e From the Press Secretary of the Interior (\u003ci\u003eGravitational \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eWaves\u003c\/i\u003e)   86\u003cbr\u003e From the Minister of the Cabinet of Unconsciousness (\u003ci\u003eLesser Animals\u003c\/i\u003e)   87\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eNotes\u003c\/i\u003e   89\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c\/i\u003e   91\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Fordham University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52580464918808,"sku":"9780823297771","price":15.69,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/well-waiting-room-paperback-softback-9780823297771","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}