We Are All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine

by James H. Duncan

New from Unknown Press, this full-length collection of poetry explores the childhood memories and nostalgic daydreams of a grade-school bookworm now grown up to face cancer, debt, solitude, and the fear that all the joys and hopes of a bygone youth are slipping out of reach.

"An unflinching collection that spins a web of reminiscence sweet with heartache and dusted with longing for a youth now passed." - Ally Malinenko, author of The Wanting Bone and This Is Sarah

"A poignantly beautiful and bittersweet cycle of poems--vivid reflections of a grown man coming to terms with the hopes, dreams and experiences of childhood, his present circumstances and possible future outcomes. The poems are evocative meditations on the transitory and ephemeral nature of life and our inevitable mortality. Though often tinged with sadness, they serve as incantations that are, at their core, hopeful, celebratory and life affirming." - Michael Gillan Maxwell, author of The Part Time Shaman Handbook: An Introduction For Beginners

"James H Duncan's We Are All Terminal But this Exit Is Mine may sound like a dour collection of verse of a young man on his way to a desperate end, but in fact, nothing is further from the truth. Duncan takes his experiences from brutal reminders of mortality and hems them up with his succinct, deceptively-simple (quite complex) view of life that leaves the reader glad they breathe vibrant air, feel radiant sun, and never take life for granted." - Clifford Brooks, Pulitzer nominee and author of The Draw of Broken Eyes and Whirling Metaphysics

"In his new collection, Duncan comes full circle as a poet. Whether he's being the heathen of light, the heathen of sin, the heathen of love, or the heathen of life's simple miracles--Duncan lays a firm foundation to dribble his heart-and-bones poetry on the guts of your soul. This is a compelling collection of poems that'll be a welcome addition to any bookshelf." - Frank Reardon, author of Blood Music, Nirvana Haymaker, and The Broken Halo Blues

100 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2017

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

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not rating this book for myself but for the opportunity I had to work with Bud Smith on this thing. It never would have existed without his help, and it certainly wouldn't be nearly as good a book without his poetic and editorial suggestions. Bud is a 5-star human being and you should check out his own books.

[Avery Stempel · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Duncan’s collection of trailer park reflections, of bicycles, of Nintendo, of longing for escape, of the struggle to fit in strummed every chord of my youth. These brief glimpses into those awkward years of discovery and emotional desolation were both beautiful and haunting. Highly recommend picking this book up, savoring it, letting it roll around on the tongue, in the mind, and then sitting back to see where the flavors take you.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

In We're All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine, James masters a sense of nostalgic wonder, something that is often missing in current poetry. The poetry collection, whether separate or read together, reads like a journey through an entire life; each work will have you walking both through the writing, and your own life, as well as many cult classics, like Stephen King's It, or Stranger Things. It isn't that these other works are at all borrowed from, but that the genuine feeling and emotion of small-town aches and burdens, which grow and meet all the aches and burdens of life, as well as the joys, permeates his work.

Equally, he dances between many themes: Life, Death, Sickness, Childhood, Memory, Memories Lost, and the hopeful, if at times, suffocating, search for hope, among them. This is very honest work, honed to a sharp edge through talent, that cuts your heart in all the right ways. I'd definitely recommend giving it a read when you have time to do so.

[Kendall · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this collection of poems, Duncan touches on all aspects of humanity, in their beauty and ugliness. His strength has always been his relatability, his storytelling, and "We Are All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine" keeps the reader in his grasp, never wavering from the road he's taken. Like most of us, Duncan is simply happy to be able to make it through another day, despite the cuts and bruises of life. This book is a testament to one's will to survive.

[Bridget Clawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this collection connected me with many experiences and emotions of my life. The author has written with a courage I do not always have access to on my own -- to explore, understand, name the truth about what's really going on. Writing it was, in that way, a service from the author to me and others.

[Kate Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous prose poems cradling a perfect balance of nostalgia and hard-earned, humble wisdom – and no shortage of true Halloween spirit throughout (always a bonus). The presence of death, or the promise of death, is of course an important part of this collection, but in a way that makes you feel more comfortable with being alive. Highly recommended.

[Dan Wilcox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trailer Park lit -- not Aldi's veggies, or Old Milwaukee cans, but as close to fresh air as Virginia Slims, what Trump wants for America, or at least for the next election. Read it & vote.