Dealing With the Devil in the Middle of the Road

by James H. Duncan

This full-length collection assembles the best of James H Duncan's published poetry between 2005 and 2012, a span in which his work appeared in more than sixty print and online journals and in five chapbooks, most of which are now sold out. Nominated for both the Best of the Net and The Pushcart Prize, James H Duncan's work has been called "hauntingly sentimental and darkly touching" while offering poems that "lead the reader on a journey through a landscape of empty wine bottles and drunken dreams, always attempting to quell the midnight, to stave off the mundane in search of something more." Other reviewers have said: "James Duncan's Dealing With the Devil in the Middle of the Road weaves the articulate and eloquent grace of a storywriter with that of a poet. In ghostly and sensual atmospherics, it narrates the lives of men traversing darkened streets and highways, railroad trellises, dead-end jobs, in and out of bars, and in and out of love. Beyond an admirable and rewarding read, Duncan has given us an exceptional first full-length book of poems. Dealing With the Devil in the Middle of the Road will haunt us, and it will endure." - Jeffrey C. Alfier, author of The Wolf Yearling (Pecan Grove Press, 2012), and editor of San Pedro River Review "James H. Duncan's poems pick up where the postcards from the outskirts of your comfort leave off, inviting you past the dust at the edges of the desert of experience, showing you that the streams of whiskey flowing off the mountain tops are really yours for the taking.You can bring your lover along for the ride if you want to; his poems aren't just about the night flow of the world of jazz and highways, but about the search for love and comfort we all have in common. They remind us to hope that maybe there's a soft place for us to land after all." - Dena Rash Guzman, managing editor of H.A.L. Publishing; founding editor of Unshod Quills For more full reviews and information, visit http://jameshduncan.blogspot.com.

Genres: Poetry

180 pages, Paperback

First published July 28, 2012

About the author

James H Duncan is the editor of Hobo Camp Review and the author of We Are All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine, What Lies In Wait, The Cards We Keep, Dead City Jazz, and Vacancy, among other books of poetry and fiction. He is a former editor with Writer's Digest, a columnist for Albany Poets, and a reviewer of independent bookshops at www.TheBookshopHunter.com. He currently resides in Upstate New York. For more, visit http://www.jameshduncan.com.

Reviews

[Dena Guzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

More people should know about James H. Duncan. Everyone should. He writes straight and narrow yet highly descriptive poems with a 21st century classicism missing from a lot of what's out there. Get this.