Overview

Winner of the 2017 Central New York Book Award for nonfiction Finalist for the 2017 Chicago Review of Books Award The first black woman to be named United States poet laureate, Brook’s poetry, fiction, and social commentary shed light on the beauty of humanity, the distinct qualities of black life and community, and the destructive effects of racism, sexism, and class inequality. A collection of thirty essays combining critical analysis and personal reflection, The Whiskey of Our Discontent, presents essential elements of Brooks' oeuvre—on race, gender, class, community, and poetic craft, while also examining her life as poet, reporter, mentor, sage, activist, and educator.

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9781608467631

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Reviews

"""[A] superb tribute...[an] essential collection.""—Booklist “But each time I read Miss Brooks, each time I revisit her poems, they climb up on my knees and sit in tight contentment. They speak to me of form and color, patterns and dawns. They talk of myths; they tell me where flesh lives, where a troop of young heroes and sheroes lean back in chairs, ‘beautiful. Impudent. Ready for life.’ Where the young ‘Live not for battles won. / Live not for the-end-of-the-song. / Live in the along.’” —Sonia Sanchez, from the Foreword “Gwendolyn Brooks wrote and performed her magnificent poetry for and about the Black people of Chicago, and yet it was also read with anguish, delight, and awe by white people, successive waves of immigrants, and ultimately the world.” —Bill Ayers, from the Introduction “If a person from another planet, continent, or culture wishes to gain insight into the inner workings, the comings and goings of Black people in America, an excellent place to begin a formal or informal education is with the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks.” —Haki R. Madhubuti, from the Afterword"

[A] superb tribute...[an] essential collection. --Booklist

[A] superb tribute...[an] essential collection. --Booklist But each time I read Miss Brooks, each time I revisit her poems, they climb up on my knees and sit in tight contentment. They speak to me of form and color, patterns and dawns. They talk of myths; they tell me where flesh lives, where a troop of young heroes and sheroes lean back in chairs, 'beautiful. Impudent. Ready for life.' Where the young 'Live not for battles won. / Live not for the-end-of-the-song. / Live in the along.' --Sonia Sanchez, from the Foreword Gwendolyn Brooks wrote and performed her magnificent poetry for and about the Black people of Chicago, and yet it was also read with anguish, delight, and awe by white people, successive waves of immigrants, and ultimately the world. --Bill Ayers, from the Introduction If a person from another planet, continent, or culture wishes to gain insight into the inner workings, the comings and goings of Black people in America, an excellent place to begin a formal or informal education is with the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks. --Haki R. Madhubuti, from the Afterword Finalist for the 2017 Chicago Review of Books Award [A] superb tribute...[an] essential collection. --Booklist

"""[A] superb tribute...[an] essential collection.""—Booklist “But each time I read Miss Brooks, each time I revisit her poems, they climb up on my knees and sit in tight contentment. They speak to me of form and color, patterns and dawns. They talk of myths; they tell me where flesh lives, where a troop of young heroes and sheroes lean back in chairs, ‘beautiful. Impudent. Ready for life.’ Where the young ‘Live not for battles won. / Live not for the-end-of-the-song. / Live in the along.’” —Sonia Sanchez, from the Foreword “Gwendolyn Brooks wrote and performed her magnificent poetry for and about the Black people of Chicago, and yet it was also read with anguish, delight, and awe by white people, successive waves of immigrants, and ultimately the world.” —Bill Ayers, from the Introduction “If a person from another planet, continent, or culture wishes to gain insight into the inner workings, the comings and goings of Black people in America, an excellent place to begin a formal or informal education is with the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks.” —Haki R. Madhubuti, from the Afterword"

Author Information

Quraysh Ali Lansana has written and edited over a dozen books. He teaches writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Recent titles include The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip Hop. Georgia A. Popoff, is a poet, educator, and editor, whose third collection is Psalter: The Agnostic’s Book of Common Curiosities. She co-authored Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy, & Social Justice in Classroom & Community, with Quraysh Ali Lansana. Sonia Sanchez-award-winning poet, activist, scholar, and formerly the Laura Carnell professor of English and women's studies at Temple University-is the author of sixteen books, including Like the Singing Coming off the Drums, Does Your House Have Lions?, Wounded in the House of a Friend, and Shake Loose My Skin.

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