The deep-dive literary meditations presented as stories, poems, and essays in The American Poet Who Went Home Again, A Mosaic of My Soul at Work, have captivated and inspired readers ever since its first paperback publication in 2008.
Just like modern literary life, the book expands beyond the safety of pages bound by predictability to explore and often confirm exciting creative possibilities. A shimmering collage of memoir, creative nonfiction, literary journalism, and dizzying flights into poetic observation, this is the amazing story of one writer’s rediscovery of his family, his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, and himself. From the celebrated poem “Return to Savannah,” and the uncut version of the groundbreaking personal essay, “This Mother’s Son,” to “Journey through `Universes Beyond the Invisible’” and “The History that Peace Made,” the author takes readers on an epic jaunt across landscapes of “the soul at work.”
Whether dealing with the challenges of care giving and racism, or coping with the subtleties of art and spirituality, this is one author-poet-documentarian, and one book, that sings with the beauty of hope and the persistence of life itself.
Text from the American Poet Who Went Home Again has been quoted by dynamic cotemporary leaders like U.S. Senator Cory Booker, and cited in works such as California State University’s THE AMERICAN PAPERS, and the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s FROM SLAVERY TO SOVEREIGNTY: THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE JUSTICE FOR BLACK FARMERS ACT (by Danielle Browne, John R. Lewis Social Justice Fellow).
Just a couple of quotes from the book show why it continues to resonate with readers in the year of America250:
“The American identity has never been a singular one and the voices of poets invariably sing, in addition to their own, the voices of those around them.”
“Peace is not so much a political mandate as it is a shared state of consciousness that remains elevated and intact only to the degree that those who value it volunteer their existence as living examples of the same... Peace ends with the unraveling of individual hope and the emergence of the will to worship violence as a healer of private and social dis-ease.”
Excerpt
It was [Thomas] Wolfe’s You Can’t Go Home Again that stuck, and that made me wonder why this might be true, why one could not go home again. Then I became aware of another title by the same author, Look Homeward Angel, not realizing at the time that it had been written before You Can’t Go Home Again. What I did understand was that the notion of “Home” for Wolfe as an author and individual was simultaneously painful, healing, damning, and inspiring. How could I not, after learning the first book had actually been published eleven years before the second, how could I not wonder what had happened between the bright promise of Look Homeward Angel, and Wolfe’s later dim realization that You Can’t Go Home Again?
The thought was a scary one because it forced me to consider what might happen if you reached the conclusion that you could not go home again while also discovering that you had no choice except to go home again.
Professional Reviews The American Poet Who Went Home Again
The American Poet Who Went Home Again will make me do something I never do--I will re-read this soul-exploring book again and maybe again.
Going home is never easy, but Aberjhani examines the journey from all angles and decides the difficulty is what he treasures.
The painful memories of his loss of young children, divorce and the pull of his family obligations are sung in such eloquent words that the music hummed in my head.
The author's memories of growing up in a segregated Savannah and the mystery of his heritage make me see how he passed through the hellfire and came out who he is.
I love this writer!
Pat Andres
8 Savannah-Related Books for Your 2021 Reading List
Considered monumental for the memorable narrative it tells… this volume speaks to the writer’s discovery of self, and rediscovery of family and his hometown of Savannah. It is an exploration for its reader, too, and according to those who have taken the journey, worthy of your reading list.
Patrick Malloy Communities Website
Upper East River at Eastern Wharf
A Tour de Force!
I love this marvelous book and recommend it, with pleasure, to one and all. Mr Aberjhani's voice should be heard around the world. He is an extraordinarily gifted writer whose words are more than inspirational, intriguing, and eloquent ... they are poetry in motion.
