Synopses & Reviews
"M. L. Liebler is the poet laureate of Americas working class. The collection he has assembled rings out with truth, intensity and love. In a world full of despair, it is comforting to have writers so gifted and generous singing our song of rebellion and hope. This book is the kind of spark we need these daysa rich, intense and inspiring collection for and about those who get their hands dirty every single day."Michael Moore
This book is not fresh-air. It is a mighty wind. . . . While the nightly news continues to do the numbers, as if we were all investors, heres the larger partthe real grit and savor of American life. Spelled out in plain English.”Peter Coyote
From the White Stripes' "The Big Three Killed My Baby" to Eminem's "Lose Yourself"; from the folk anthems of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie to the poems of Walt Whitman and Amiri Baraka; from the stories of Willa Cather and Bret Lott to the rabble-rousing work of Michael Moorethis transcendent volume touches upon all aspects of working-class life.
A collection about living while barely making one, about layoffs and picket lines, about farmers, butchers, miners, waitresses, assembly-line workers, and the "Groundskeeper Busted Reading in the Custodial Water Closet," this is literature by the people and for the people.
Contributors include:
Amiri Baraka
Bonnie Jo Campbell
Willa Cather
Andrei Codrescu
Dorothy Day
Emily Dickinson
Diane di Prima
Bob Dylan
Eminem
Woody Guthrie
Allison Adelle Hedge Coke
Lolita Hernandez
Philip Levine
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Bret Lott
Thomas Lux
Thomas Lynch
Michael McClure
Michael Moore
Mark Nowak
Edward Sanders
John Sayles
Quincy Troupe
MIck Vranich
Diane Wakoski
Jack White
Walt Whitman
. . . and many more.
Review
"M. L. Liebler is the poet laureate of America's working class. The collection he has assembled rings out with truth, intensity and love. In a world full of despair, it is comforting to have writers so gifted and generous singing our song of rebellion and hope. This book is the kind of spark we need these days a rich, intense and inspiring collection for and about those who get their hands dirty every single day." Michael Moore
Review
"This book is not 'fresh-air'. It is a mighty wind. . . . While the nightly news continues to do the numbers, as if we were all investors, here's the larger part the real grit and savor of American life. Spelled out in plain English." Peter Coyote
Review
"I love anthologies. I love their heft, their breadth, and the way a good one opens the imagination to new vistas. M. L. Liebler's Working Words: Punching the Clock and Kicking out the Jams is a good case in point." Chris Faatz, Powells.com (Read the entire )
Synopsis
From the White Stripes' "The Big Three Killed My Baby" to Eminem's "Lose Yourself"; from the folk anthems of Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie to the poems of Walt Whitman and Amiri Baraka; from the stories of Willa Cather and Bret Lott to the rabble-rousing work of Michael Moore this transcendent volume touches upon all aspects of working-class life.
A collection about living while barely making one, about layoffs and picket lines, about farmers, butchers, miners, waitresses, assembly-line workers, and the "Groundskeeper Busted Reading in the Custodial Water Closet," this is literature by the people and for the people.
Contributors include:
- Amiri Baraka
- Bonnie Jo Campbell
- Willa Cather
- Andrei Codrescu
- Dorothy Day
- Emily Dickinson
- Diane di Prima
- Bob Dylan
- Eminem
- Woody Guthrie
- Allison Adelle Hedge Coke
- Lolita Hernandez
- Philip Levine
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Bret Lott
- Thomas Lux
- Thomas Lynch
- Michael McClure
- Michael Moore
- Mark Nowak
- Edward Sanders
- John Sayles
- Quincy Troupe
- MIck Vranich
- Diane Wakoski
- Jack White
- Walt Whitman
. . . and many more.
Synopsis
Poets, rock stars, filmmakers, activists, novelists, and historians lend their voices to this landmark collection about the daily grind.
About the Author
M. L. Liebler is a poet, literary arts activist, and community organizer who has read and performed his work internationally. A teacher at Wayne State University, he is also the founding director of both the National Writers Voice Project in Detroit and Springfed Arts: Metro Detroit Writers Literary Arts Organization. He was selected as Best Detroit Poet by the Detroit Free Press and Metro Times, and his many awards include a Paterson Poetry Prize for Literary Excellence and the Barnes and Noble Poets and Writers Writers for Writers Award, an honor shared with Maxine Hong Kingston and Junot Diaz.