I & I

9780864925138

George Elliott Clarke (Author) $24.95 Paperback Published January 1, 2009 - In Stock Goose Lane Editions

In the "Boogie Nights" era of the 1970s, Betty Browning and her lover, boxer Malcolm Miles, travel from the fog-anchored grime of Halifax, Nova Scotia, to sunburnt Corpus Christi, Texas, and back - meeting tragedy and bloodshed along the way. I & I smoulders with love, lust, violence, and the excruciating repercussions of racism, sexism, and disgust. Rastafarian for "you and me," "I & I" expresses the oneness of God and man, the oneness of two people, or the distinction between body and spirit. In George Elliott Clarke's hands, this existential aesthetic crystallizes in a love story of Gothic grit. The narrative gives this verse novel shape; the poetry makes it sing, straddling folk ballad, soul, and pop music, all the while moaning the blues. With his trademark artistry, Clarke fearlessly plumbs repugnant images, then, in a breath, wipes the slate clean with glistening language.

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Accolades

"One of Canada's most important and readable poets." - Salvatore Difalco, TORO Magazine