Drugs

<p>&quot;Sometimes a disquieting idea, for at its core, an alternative signals difference: a state some may dustrust, others tolerate, still others, embrace. Fortunately, divergent views remain energetically alive, experience brings hope, exhilerating no matter what the outcome. In this anthology on less traditional and predictable lifepaths, the intensity, humor and spirit of these writing actually transcends differences, evidence of the strength found in exploring less travelled roads.&quot;</p><p>Contributors, cont'd: Mary Damon Peltier, Shirley Powers, Rita Reinert, Ellen Rosen, P. Kelly Rugg, Amy Sanderson, Patti See, Claudia Rosa Silva, Carol Smith, Grazina Smith, Sandra Tatara </p>

"The stories presented here tell tales of a new Chicago, a Chicago that, like the Scott Mutter montage that fronts this book, is made up of diverse images that suggest new ways of seeing. They provide alternative interpretations of life in the city. What you will find in this collection is a a multi-cultural neighborhood in print, a neighborhood which has yet to surface on Chicago streets, one which is perhaps still years away in a city that touts its culturally plural make-up while still enforcing rigid boundaries between segregated neighborhoods. Murder by industrial pollution (often masked by self-abuse), racism, homophobia, the disintegration of family life, the struggle for control of one's own body and mind, the troubles facing a growing elderly population, the subjugation of minority cultures to the rich, the white, the male, are all issues confronted by the writers of these stories. They speak through a range of voices, creating a new, urgent sense of Chicago Realism. These storytellers provide testimony to a new Chicago, a Chicago that while steeped in American tradition challenges the narrow boundaries of its stereotype. They speak to a changing America, an America that has awakened from decades of a false, prosperity-driven revelry with a reality hangover. They speak of an America that must now begin to turn its attention to the social and environmental problems it has too long ignored." - From the back cover

Terry Plumming, published in Chicago, contains graphic work of a more &quot;my roommate just gave me a whole ton of meth and now I think the walls are made of armpits&quot; style. The jaggy drawings and contorted slogans that pack each page compliment the accompanying CD. Quite often a Terry Plumming CD makes me feel as if I'm hosting a seance through an AM radio and channeling the best of the noise tape-trading scene. Vital to the hope of any futher human mutation.

A collection of inspirational &quot;gospel poetry&quot; by a Christian performance poet, designed to &quot;impact children and young adults by delivering powerful spoken word that was also spiritually based.&quot;<br />

A collection of dark poems combining squalor and urban decay with elements of Christian spirituality and redemption.