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LADY YOU SHOT ME

Darren C. Demaree — Poetry / Music Poetry / African-American Studies

Book Description

Sam Cooke, the man, the musician, the lover — his natural genius, his wanton escapades, his raw passion and his brilliant, soulful music are all here conjured in a series of poems by Darren C. Demaree. From humble gospel beginnings, to world-fame stature and cold murder, the beauty, unlikeliness and tragedy of a genius and his life are here commemorated and eternally brought to life.

Even as these poems are teeming with ghosts from the 1960s — Lou Rawls, Ali, the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, and Sam Cooke himself — they are steeped in living truths. Demaree absolutely glides through the stickiest of poetic subjects — racism, betrayal, hubris, murder, alcoholism — and we are all blessed to slide in behind him for a ride through this wonderful collection. LADY YOU SHOT ME digs deep into the complexities of Cooke's life and controversial death, examining the damage a famous man could inflict on the women in his life while offering a complex study of his genius and imperfections.

Pull Quotes

"Darren Demaree's poems have always shaken me in the chest with their precision, and with their ability to find beauty in the smallest of margins. The poems in Demaree's new collection, Lady, You Shot Me, are certainly no exception. Even as these poems are teeming with ghosts from the 1960s—Lou Rawls, Ali, the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, and Sam Cooke himself—they are steeped in living truths. Demaree absolutely glides through the stickiest of poetic subjects—racism, betrayal, hubris, murder, alcoholism—and we are all blessed to slide in behind him for a ride through this wonderful collection."

Jack B. Bedell, Louisiana Poet Laureate, author of No Brother, This Storm

Recognition

• Darren C. Demaree is widely published and recognized in contemporary American poetry
• LADY YOU SHOT ME is Demaree's tenth full-length collection

Author Bio

DARREN C. DEMAREE is the author of numerous poetry collections, including four titles with 8th House Publishing: AS WE REFER TO OUR BODIES, LADY YOU SHOT ME, MANY FULL HANDS APPLAUDING INELEGANTLY, and NUDE MALE WITH ECHO. His poems are characterized by their precision, energy, and ability to find beauty in the smallest of margins. His work has appeared in numerous literary journals and he has been widely recognized as one of the most prolific and distinctive voices in contemporary American poetry.

Book Details

Also by This Author

AS WE REFER TO OUR BODIES, MANY FULL HANDS APPLAUDING INELEGANTLY, NUDE MALE WITH ECHO (all published by 8th House Publishing)