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josephdante's reviews
766 reviews
The Big Book of Exit Strategies by Jamaal May
5.0
I could only read so much of this in one sitting because every line comes at you like a fist to a different part of your body.
The violence done to black men. The devastation of war and the burying of the dead. The terror of guns and the fragility of life. Ow, ow, ow.
But it also includes homages to the city of Detroit and love poems for Tarfia Faizullah.
Although every single poem in this collection is worth your time, here are some of my favorites:
"There Are Birds Here"
"FBI Questioning During the 2009 Presidential Inauguration"
"The Gun Joke"
"Yes, I Know She's Dying"
"It Shakes Us Still"
"Unsigned Letter to a Human in the 21st Century"
This book is much more thematically eclectic than May's previous book, but it's just as beautiful. I imagine I will always be surprised and never disappointed by his words. They always ring both true and strange, like a gospel in a language we don't quite understand.
The violence done to black men. The devastation of war and the burying of the dead. The terror of guns and the fragility of life. Ow, ow, ow.
But it also includes homages to the city of Detroit and love poems for Tarfia Faizullah.
Although every single poem in this collection is worth your time, here are some of my favorites:
"There Are Birds Here"
"FBI Questioning During the 2009 Presidential Inauguration"
"The Gun Joke"
"Yes, I Know She's Dying"
"It Shakes Us Still"
"Unsigned Letter to a Human in the 21st Century"
This book is much more thematically eclectic than May's previous book, but it's just as beautiful. I imagine I will always be surprised and never disappointed by his words. They always ring both true and strange, like a gospel in a language we don't quite understand.