Verses Versus Empire

"A brave new presence in the politics of the globe.">How Obama Made Trump (and Biden) Possible! Confused? You should be! Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2009 before going on to kill record numbers in drone strikes and oversee unprecedented levels of deportation and whistleblower prosecution. What to make of it? What to make of him?! Abdiel LeRoy takes us through the inferno of U.S. politics, while exposing the follies and fraud of empire. That he does so in poetry, prose, and short stories sings of unprecedented literary achievement, his moods ranging from light-hearted satire and bawdy wordplay to searing irony and melancholic lament. Yet the reader is entertained throughout. In this second (of three) Verses Versus Empire books, we witness environmental devastation, from BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to nuclear disaster at Fukushima to the Dakota Access Pipeline. We see the poisonous effects of U.S. imperialism with the rise of ISIS. And we lament injustice, from the persecution of whistleblowers such as Edward Snowden to unaccountable police officers slaughtering black and brown victims. LeRoy demonstrates how Obama swept the path for Trump's accession, all amid ongoing attack on Constitutional protections, contempt for international law, and a perpetual war footing sustained by official falsehood. These verses establish LeRoy as a poetic voice for our age, as if the early prophets spoke through Shakespeare and echoed to humanity today! "If you wanted to extend the critical view of American political history into the present beyond Gore Vidal's 'Biography of the United States of America, ' these books would be the ticket... A joy to read and an invitation to keep your eyes open as to what is really going on.">"So well done. A remarkable command of the language and great sensitivity. And doing all this in an entirely new way, wading into (almost) unexplored literary territory.">"Abdiel LeRoy's poetry and prose offer intellectual nourishment for critical thinkers and seekers of truth... I highly recommend this book and its companion editions to anyone who seeks to escape from the 'Matrix'.">"LeRoy's words dance."Amy's Bookshelf Reviews, Top-10 Books of 2019