by Jeff Mann
Jeff Mann is a defiant voice in Appalachian literature. His poems, provocative and beloved, are grounded in West Virginia's mountains, his adoration for the region's culture, and the frisson of passion between men. Redneck Bouquet, his new collection, has the poet seeking out sweet donuts and bringing home a lonely man, shucking flannels and boots. In another poem, Mann dwells on the scent of someone else in a lover's moustache. These sumptuous verses reflect the commonplace and concupiscent joys of rural America.
Redneck Bouquet
Paperback, 118 pages
“Mann is nothing less than the gay epic poet of our age. The ease with which he expresses the quotidian, the mythic, the timeless and the ineffable is unrivaled. These poems are heart-rendingly beautiful in their coupling of tenderness and strength, their historical and psychological breadth." - Trebor Healey, author of Sweet Son of Pan, Faun and A Horse Named Sorrow