Amerigun
Anne Marie Macari
In Amerigun, a stunning collection of loss and rediscovery, poet Anne Marie Macari revisits her brother Edward’s long-ago death by a self-inflicted gunshot. Interweaving and disentangling her own memories and those of her family, and by reconstructing a legal and medical paper trail, Macari begins a dialogue with the dead, bringing her brother’s lost voice back to her after years of sealing herself off from him. Embedded in her story is the devastation of a culture that elevates guns and violence over the sacredness of human life. Yet, out of that devastation, Macari writes a kind of love story, renewing her connection with her brother, as well with other departed friends and family. By revisiting grief, she uncovers a deeply-felt gratitude for the world around her—and indeed for her own life.
Anne Marie Macari is the author of five books of poetry. Her first book, Ivory Cradle, won the APR/Honickman first book prize. She is also the co-editor of Lit From Inside: 40 Years of Poetry from Alice James Books. Macari’s poetry and prose has been widely published in magazines. In 2005 she was the recipient of the James Dickey Prize for poetry from 5 Points Magazine. She lives in New York City.
Trade Paperback / $17.00 (Can. 23.00) / ISBN 978-0-89255-636-6 / 64 pages / Poetry