Why Photographers Commit Suicide explores, in small narratives and lyrical poems, the American idea of Manifest Destiny, particularly as it relates to the next frontier—space exploration. Mary McCray examines the scientific, psychological and spiritual frontiers enmeshed in our very human longing for space, including our dream of a space station on Mars. These poems survey what we gain and what we lose as we progress towards tomorrow, and how we can begin to understand the universal melancholy we seem to cherish for what we leave behind, the lives we have already lived. McCray unearths our feelings about what it means to move ahead and stake out new territory, and what it means to be home.
Professional Reviews
Tom Crawford, Author of The Names of Birds, Wu Wei, and The Temple on Monday
"What a surprise! Poetry that rightly deserves the praise, by which I mean poetry that makes you forget you're reading poetry. How refreshing. For far too many American poets, their poems are a glitter of self-consciousness--the facile of the MFA crowd. This new collection by Mary McCray should earn her a wide readership with its outer space leaps of invention. Her ribald sense of humor. Grit. Originality."
Devin McGuire, Assistant Editor of the Aurorean
...a book of poetry for our times...it leads us to the existential abyss, prickling our fears and anxieties...Here we have stars and planets personified, acting out the baser human emotions and acts of lust, lost love and betrayals, dealing with their own fears and anxieties about loss and the ultimate end...Her language is rich and daringly playful, and her sense of poetic rhythm is excellent...If a poet can strike upon the heart, the mind, and the ear all at the same time, then the poet is getting the job done."
Under Amber Skies, written by author and poet Jill Eisnaugle, is a wonderful collection of rhyming poetry guaranteed to please every reader. In this, her second book, she writes of new friendships kindled, as well as old friendships solidified. She g
