Zombies, monsters, and dragons stalk this book's pages. Cries of despair echo through them. Prisons and dungeons lie in wait. Is this a nightmare? Is it an apocalypse? Well, yes-because it's the day before our narrator's first day of school, and all entreaties to his mother are falling on deaf ears. Why should he go to school when he already knows two letters, "N" and "O," and he knows they spell NO!, which is exactly the word this occasion demands? Why aren't these magic letters working anymore? Lexile Level 490; F&P Level L

Stethoscope is poet Dave Morrison's ninth collection of poetry. Hailed as 'A hearty weed in the garden of American poetry' Dave Morrison's poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, and featured on Writer's Almanac. "In Stethoscope, Dave Morrison the poet has fully arrived. Few people participate as fully in the musical awe beaten out in these poems as Dave Morrison maintains naturally all the time. "I'm transcribing as fast as I can," he says of words given to him in a dream, "but / they are disappearing in the / morning sun." Luckily for us, he has trained his ear to pick up the pulse no matter how faint, and amplify it with practiced skill. In this book, his transcriptive powers have hit full blossom." Dana Wilde - author of The Other End of the Driveway and editor of Uni-Verse

Hailed as 'A hearty weed in the garden of American poetry' Dave Morrison's poems have been published in literary magazines and anthologies, and featured on Writer's Almanac. 'Fail' is his eighth collection of poetry. "There is no voice quite like his. What shines in every poem is musical sound and rhythm, grittiness, reality, humor, and the rare ability to tackle serious subjects without taking himself too seriously." (Alice Persons, Editor and Publisher, Moon Pie Press) "Morrison's eye for detail and his razor-sharp sense of humor elevate his words into something visceral and anchored in the real world, whether it's in the past or the present." (Emily Burnham, Bangor Daily News) "By tapping into his tumultuous past, Morrison has created work that is not only technically sound, but viscerally engaging. His is no passive verse; it grabs you by the collar and demands your attention." (Allen Adams, themaineedge.com)

It was energy & fatigue, wildness & sameness, authenticity & illusion; it was magic & possibility & expression, it was boredom, ego, bullshit. It was fun & sex & drinks, abuse & addiction & violence. It was inclusion & loneliness, defeat and heartache, it was transformation & magic, it was music, it was everything, it made everything else not matter. Welcome to Clubland. No cover, no drink minimum. Clubland is a collection of poems about rock & roll bars, written in verse. This is Dave Morrison's seventh poetry collection. "Morrison can be trusted to not waste your time; every poem is worth the read. He never missteps in his wistful yet frank look at the bars, motels, managers, band members and girl friends that make up the world of Boston rock. It's a perfect book for late night with a drink..." (review excerpt - Boston Groupie News)

Morrison writes poems about the landscape of the heart, the weather inside the skull, and how Rock & Roll becomes part of your DNA. Morrison's second book of poetry is chock full of poems about String Theory, Khrushchev, Death, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fear, Norton Commandos, Time, Transistor Radios, Keith Richards, and the blues.