Daniel Wolff, HOW TO BECOME AN AMERICAN and MORE POEMS ABOUT MONEY
With introduction by Steven Rosenberg
FREE. Registration required.
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The histories of US immigrants do not always begin and end in Ellis Island and northeastern cities. Many arrived earlier and some migrated south and west, fanning out into their vast new country. They sought a renewed life, fresh prospects, and a safe harbor, despite a nation that was not always welcoming and not always tolerant.
How to Become an American: A History of Immigration, Assimilation, and Loneliness begins with an abandoned diary―and from there author Daniel Wolff examines the sweeping history of immigration into the United States through the experiences of one unnamed, seemingly unremarkable Jewish family, and, in the process, makes their lives remarkable.
At this event Daniel Wolff will also share select readings from his collection More Poems About Money, in which he indicts global capitalism in a fury of wordplay, rhymes, squint-eyed sonnets, and puns. The older meaning of “indict” is “to proclaim,” and that is what these poems do as they decry modern enslavement to profit, “the street that sleeps on merchandise,” a world where “trust” rhymes with “bust.” An angry and ingenious collection.
Daniel Wolff is the award-winning author of a half dozen non-fiction books, four collections of poetry, many collaborations (with painters, sculptors, choreographers, and musicians), and articles that have appeared in everything from The New York Times to Wooden Boat. His titles include including Grown-Up Anger: The Connected Mysteries of Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and the Calumet Massacre of 1913 and The Fight for Home: How (Parts of) New Orleans Came Back. He's a resident of the Hudson Valley.
Oblong Books in Rhinebeck is a fully wheelchair-accessible space with on-site van-accessible parking. Microphones and speakers will not be used at this event [but can be made available with advance notice]. If you have specific questions about the space or how an event can be made more accessible to you, please do not hesitate to contact us: info@oblongbooks.com.
