Hum (ALA Notable Books for Adults)

This collection of poetry is near perfect. It's accessible, unique, masterfully written, and brilliantly executed. These are poems by a man obsessed with sound (as evidenced by his experiences as a performer and an audio engineer). This voice takes you on an incredible journey through a life in a city rife with urban decay and its inhabitants' struggles with addiction, death, joy, laughter, and more. Mr. May is a an amazing poetic voice (who is rarely in better form than the -phobia poems which are interspersed throughout the book).It would be a great injustice to not mention the book design as well. The cover art is incredible and the pages periodically invert to be black pages with white writing, and the various gray stages in between, evoking a day/night cycle in the text as well as a level of inversion.A must for fans of contemporary American poetry!

This book creeps up on you. There is imagery -- machines and birds and snow -- that returns and transforms through the poems, but each poem is its own work. I have made my way though the book fully only once but know it is a journey I will enjoy many times. Side note -- if you teach English, urge your students to consider May's poems for the Poetry Out Loud contest.

It's pretty audacious to dedicate a book to an entire city, especially a dying one. But in Jamaal May's collection, Hum, readers are drawn into the bodyshops, bedrooms, and back alleys of Detroit. This book of poems is as much memoir as it is poetry (as it is philosophy). And as an African American coming from one of the poorest cities in the country, May opens the readers eyes to a world that is foreign and heartbreaking to many readers of American poetry. If there is a torch burning somewhere for Etheridge Knight, I vote Jamaal May be the next to bear it.

The poems are very intense, very powerful. They resonate within you and make you wonder how anyone could have missed the connections but also how anybody could have thought to immortalize their thoughts on paper with this sort of phrasing. Recommended for all poetry enthusiasts as well as aspiring poets who are looking for new sources of inspiration and new voices to hear. Book arrived within the week and in great condition.

Jamaal May is a genius in his craft. Every word in here is full of heart, soul, and life. Highly, highly recommended.

Fell in love with May's work after hearing "Hum for the Bolt." His poetry is beautiful and powerful and I highly recommend this book to any poetry lover (or anyone just beginning to love poetry).We all need more poetry in our lives.

i saw this book on a writer friend's table. i opened at random, read a couple of poems and ordered my own copy when i got home. a strong voice. a strong voice saying something quietly.

Love this work - will look for future books from this poet.