Don't Try

In this collection of co-written poems, former Oklahoma Poet Laureate Nathan Brown and three-time Austin Music Hall-of-Famer Jon Dee Graham call on the grumpy specter of Charles Bukowski to tell their world slant. Every poem's title is a line or phrase from Bukowski's work. Even the title of the book, "Don't Try," is the inscription on the old man's tombstone. Like a collection of profane Psalms, this book brings the concept of "duet" to poetry. And it comes out swinging with the sounds of distorted guitars and smoke-encrusted vocals.