{"product_id":"gun-poems-paperback","title":"Gun Poems - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMichael J. Henry\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGun Poems\u003c\/i\u003e is a startling, necessary, troubling, courageous, beautiful book. In the face of our greatest, most intractable problems, poets remember, and therefore remind us, that the imagination is the only solution. To inhabit the spirit of the gun, and therefore to confront its essence, is an act of imaginative courage. Only a poet of great skill and creativity could pull this off, and Michael Henry does. These words gather us in our sorrow and anger, so we can resist together.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e-Matthew Zapruder, \u003c\/b\u003e author of \u003ci\u003eI Love Hearing Your Dreams\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHow to Continue\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith its volatile trickster-sometimes a man and sometimes a lethal gun-Michael Henry's new collection chronicles our efforts to try and do right and to heal in a polarized country fixated with firearms. Somewhere between action and inaction and our daily gut checks, \u003ci\u003eGun Poems\u003c\/i\u003e holds out its heart to us with its gruff hands and powerful poems.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e -Juan J. Morales\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eDream of the Bird Tattoo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003eMichael Henry's Gun Poems presents us with a new American anti-hero-a character with bad intentions but completely relatable insecurities. We can't help but feel Gun's longing and loss, while at the same time we laugh in recognition at his human foibles. Gun is in some way all of us. And this is the genius of the poet: his captivating language charms us with our own monstrous reflection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e -J Diego Frey\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eUmbrellas or Else\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Year the Eggs Cracked\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGun Poems\u003c\/i\u003e by Michael J. Henry is a haunting, unflinching examination of America's tangled obsession with guns, masculinity, and the systemic violence of individualism. This devastating work of contemporary myth-making-a book-length conjuring of Gun, a trickster persona cut from the same cunning cloth as Marvin Bell's Dead Man or Ted Hughes' Crow, yet with distinctly American alloys of chrome and powder.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e -David Anthony Martin\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Ground Nest \u003c\/i\u003eand others\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMichael Henry's mesmerizing \u003ci\u003eGun Poems\u003c\/i\u003e summons one of the dark genies of American culture, endowing it with an eerily believable voice, psyche, and perspective. This is imaginative prestidigitation of the highest caliber, and one of the most engrossing poetry collections I've read in a long, long time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e -David Wroblewski, \u003c\/b\u003e author of Familiaris and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eReading these daring and mesmerizing new poems is like hearing the final cries of the town fool everyone has ignored at their own peril for too long because the fool is a gun, and we are all carrying, even when we know what that costs us and what is to come. Michael J. Henry is an essential American poet, and \u003ci\u003eGun Poems \u003c\/i\u003eis an absolutely essential new collection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e -André Dubus III\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eTownie, Ghost Do\u003c\/i\u003egs, and \u003ci\u003eHouse of Sand and Fog\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHunter S. Thompson reportedly said that the only interesting character in American literature is a suitcase full of money. But he's wrong, it's a gun, and Michael Henry's \u003ci\u003eGun Poems\u003c\/i\u003e is a masterpiece on the subject. Unflinching, wily, scathing, stand-up-and-slap-somebody funny, brilliant, and my favorite book of poetry in a very long time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e -Ben Whitmer, \u003c\/b\u003e author of \u003ci\u003eCry Father, Pike\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eSatan is Real\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1997, Michael Henry co-foundedLighthouse Writers Workshop. His nonfiction and poetry have appeared in numerous literary journals and magazines. He's published two poetry collections, \u003ci\u003eNo Stranger Than My Own\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eActive Gods\u003c\/i\u003e, and a chapbook, \u003ci\u003eIntersection\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as a nonfiction book, \u003ci\u003eMountain Biking the Colorado Trail\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 104\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.22 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 13, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56150031728945,"sku":"9781957483429","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1004\/9532\/7537\/files\/284CHk9Lre9781957483429.webp?v=1788689302","url":"https:\/\/mitchellofficial.com\/products\/gun-poems-paperback","provider":"MITCHELL","version":"1.0","type":"link"}