Description
Jack Greer’s America is loud, idiosyncratic, crude, miserable, boisterous, passionate with his/her mark all over the planet. This rousing tour of the country is a tour de force of satire, love and lament. Its five sections are a lens through which to see who we are: “America Goes into Business and Discovers Religion”; “America Loses His Son”; “America Discovers She Is a Woman and Searches for Her Children.”
“The tone reminds me of E.A. Robinson – that full and looming and ragged end that comes after too much of everything.” Shelby Stephenson, Southern Pines
from “America Discovers Love and the Automobile”
America got bored yesterday,
climbed into a car.
worldwide the wires hummed:
“America discovers escape.
found lounging in an automobile.”
the world waited.
suddenly a scream,
screech of tires,
bath of blood.
America had hit the road.
trees fled, ripping their roots.
chocked leaves spun and fell.
America grew drunk on driving.
fumes roared from the back
of the Ford, the Chrysler, the Chevy.
across the plains dust rose
and the third world cried:
“watch out here comes America!”Grief and Oysters (a poem from the collection)
Jack Greer is the author of Abraham’s Bay & Other Stories. He is the recipient of two fellowship awards from the Maryland Arts Council for short fiction and in his daytime life is Director of Communications for the University of Maryland Sea Grant Program, which supports research and outreach related to Chesapeake Bay.
