{"product_id":"as-long-as-were-here","title":"As Long as We're Here","description":"\u003cp\u003eAuthor: Joel Brouwer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublisher: Four Way Books (2026)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs Long as We’re Here\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is an off-key anthem, a funhouse mirror held up to our dumpster-fire era. Chronically online, distracted and distracting, with too many browser tabs open at once, attentive to everything and focused on nothing, Brouwer delights in the late capitalist absurdities of sleeping apps and internet dance crazes, and riffs on the argot of the group chat and the team meeting. These slippery poems both suffer from and revel in their ADD. Their shifts are as fleet as our news feeds, and their serpentine sentences leap from barroom jests to high modernist splendor and back. But the book is not all fun and games. Dreamy tales of edgelords and loyalty oaths often arrive at places of surprising pathos and beauty. Mortality gnaws at the speakers of these poems, and political unrest lurks in the background. Still, a sense of solidarity—that \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003ewe\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e of the title, a recurring pronoun throughout—keeps despair at bay. Indeed, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs Long as We’re Here\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a book of intimacy, of the coterie. Friends and lovers people its lyrics, which often feel like late-night hang sessions with eccentric, wise-cracking pals. Full of wry wisdom and lush music, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs Long as We’re Here \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003eknows what to do with a diminished thing: make it sing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Chicago Distribution Center","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44093362503779,"sku":"9781961897786","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/8655\/1139\/files\/aslongaswe_rehere.jpg?v=1774998447","url":"https:\/\/woodlandpatternbookcenter.com\/products\/as-long-as-were-here","provider":"Woodland Pattern","version":"1.0","type":"link"}