Prepare yourself for November’s US presidential election with these books, selected by poet Kelly Michels, author of the collection American Anthem.
Pain Killer by Barry Meier
Originally published in 2003, it has since been updated and expanded, and is one of the most pivotal books written about the epidemic.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Nearly half of all Americans have had a family member incarcerated at some point, and this book provides a central reference to understanding the US mass imprisonment phenomenon ahead of the election.
Walt Whitman’s America by David S Reynolds
A riveting account of the cultural and political context of Whitman’s poetry. It gives a thought-provoking account of American society at one of the country’s most divisive moments.
Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry by John Murillo
A book of poetry that binds the traumatic histories of America’s violent past and present, merging them with transformative force to illustrate the effects of oppression.
Children in Tactical Gear by Peter Mishler
A poetry collection hat offers a searing satire of American consumerism, unveiling the dystopian absurdity within the deluge of objects, media, rhetoric and the inescapable grief that aches beneath it all.
