The New Testament (Paperback)

"Erotic and grief-stricken, ministerial and playful, Brown offers his reader a journey unlike any other in contemporary poetry."--"Rain Taxi"

"To read Jericho Brown's poems is to encounter devastating genius."--Claudia Rankine

In the world of Jericho Brown's second book, disease runs through the body, violence runs through the neighborhood, memories run through the mind, trauma runs through generations. Almost eerily quiet in even the bluntest of poems, Brown gives us the ache of a throat that has yet to say the hardest thing--and the truth is coming on fast.

Fairy Tale

Say the shame I see inching like steam
Along the streets will never seep
Beneath the doors of this bedroom,
And if it does, if we dare to breathe,
Tell me that though the world ends us,
Lover, it cannot end our love
Of narrative. Don't you have a story
For me?--like the one you tell
With fingers over my lips to keep me
From sighing when--before the queen
Is kidnapped--the prince bows
To the enemy, handing over the horn
Of his favorite unicorn like those men
Brought, bought, and whipped until
They accepted their masters' names.

Jericho Brown worked as the speechwriter for the mayor of New Orleans before earning his PhD in creative writing and literature from the University of Houston. His first book, "PLEASE" (New Issues), won the American Book Award. He currently teaches at Emory University and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Review This Product

An enthralling read.

Thu, 3 Dec 2015 | Review by: Lebohang

This is an amazing, contemporary book of poetry that so beautifully weaves Brown's personal stories with larger narratives of race, class and history in the world today. His writing is simple yet breathtaking. The poetry moves me each time and it is obvious that each line was crafted with purpose and love. He certainly achieves what the title points to - giving a fresh, interesting perspective on The New Testament.

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