The Box of Torrone (Paperback)

John J. Trause

ISBN 10: 1963115716 / ISBN 13: 9781963115710

Published by Unsolicited Press, 2026

About this Item

Paperback. The Box of Torrone is an unusual book of poetry about six flavors of the Italian nougat torrone, each flavor associated with a city in Italy, based on an actual box of torrone that the author received from his beloved Italian aunt years ago. This is a project that developed over years as associations between the cities and flavors of torrone coalesced to create a delicious blend of history, culture, poetics, and aesthetics.The Box of Torrone begins with a three-part suite of poems, "In the Box of Torrone", in summary of the trip to come, tracking a journey up the Italian peninsula with stops at six major cities, Naples, Rome, Pisa, Florence, Venice, and Milan. This book takes shape from other terrains and histories, including Mexican jungles, Los Angeles, Fort Lee, New Jersey, and even the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. The pairings seem classic and yet unusual: Lemons / NAPLES, Chocolate / ROME, Coconuts / PISA, Coffee / FLORENCE, Almonds / VENICE, Hazelnuts / MILAN.Aside from the geographical and confectionary travelogue, The Box of Torrone is structured with a delicate network of time travel from the past to the future with a lingering layover in the eternal present, the City of Rome, informed by the concept of "yesterday, today, and tomorrow" and the joys of international cinema.Highly unusual in its conception and composition with visual and aurally stimulating elements, The Box of Torrone has an international and yet personal theme, timeless in its breadth, suitable for readers who wish to explore a world of flavors and an armchair voyage to Italy. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781963115710

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Box of Torrone (Paperback)
• Publisher: Unsolicited Press
• Publication Date: 2026
• ISBN 10: 1963115716
• ISBN 13: 9781963115710
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

The short poems in Bosk grow out of close encounters with trees, shrubs, and understory plants observed throughout a sprawling Boston arboretum built on glacial drumlins, with valleys and meadows threading between them. These poems emerged from slow, aimless wandering-moments when a shape, texture, or pattern tugged at the senses and asked to be noticed. From those encounters came a series of questions: How does careful attention to nonhuman beings both distort and sharpen our perception? How might deep observation rekindle our connection to place, easing us out of apathy? And can brief poems spark a kind of phenomenological inquiry-playful, probing, and alive to the porous membrane between the self and the wider world?

About the Author

Writer and translator Patrick Barron grew up in the Pacific Northwest, moving from Great Falls, Montana to Anchorage, Alaska, and then Eugene, Oregon. He spent significant years in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Ferrara, Italy, and San Francisco, and holds degrees in English and Cultural Geography. He now lives in Boston where he teaches at the University of Massachusetts. His books include Spooring (poetry); Selected Essays and Dialogues: Adventures into the Errant Familiar, by Gianni Celati; Terrain Vague: Interstices at the Edge of the Pale; Haiku for a Season, Haiku per una stagione, by Andrea Zanzotto; The Selected Poetry and Prose of Andrea Zanzotto; and Italian Environmental Literature: An Anthology. His work has received a number of recognitions, including the Rome Prize; the National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship; the National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship; the Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Award; and a Fulbright Scholarship.