Monsoon Blues

Poetry. "The poet goes to war in Vietnam as a clarinetist in the Army band and returns from hell to tell about it. It is vital that we read and hear Elijah Imlay—for our sense of history, for the truth of war, and for the 'solace in stories'"—Maxine Hong Kingston. "The gutsy satire in Elijah Imlay's MONSOON BLUES is balanced by his experience of war. These plainly spoken moments chronicle deep feelings and astute observations shaped by a vertical music that captures the speed of dangerous encounters. Imlay's one-man ensemble knows how to gage the blues, how to get close to the bone"—Yusef Komunyakaa.