This is a book of poetry about blue-collar lives from an author who left the high life and got his hands dirty.
After graduating from Cornell University, I studied further at The London School of Economics, and immediately got a job on Wall Street as a day trader. I was bound for a life of comfort and financial security. But it wasn't for me. My dreams had little to do with their own. Nor did my dream of elevating the lives of the working class people I grew up with. I won awards for my writing, but it felt dishonest and unremarkable, so I moved back to my hometown in Pennsylvania and began to get my hands dirty. I worked in factories, steel mills, prisons, dog and cat hospitals, etc. I decided if I were to be a true writer, I had to punch the time clock myself, not imagine what it feels like punching that clock -- there's a world of difference. What follows are the stories of the men and women who wake up each morning hoping for the best despite life's drudgery. Yet what I've found in the writing of this book is that man's resolve is indefatigable and unflagging, like a beating heart that aches to live and dream and overcome.