Books

Sometimes when things get so bad all you can do is laugh. This is a common theme throughout A. M. Langston’s work. He tells stories around life’s surprises, most of which being disruptive or even frightening rather than our grandest wishes coming true. There’s nothing we can do to stop the bus or hop off the train, because there may not be a road to meet our feet. When there is a road to elsewhere, an escape hatch, a trap door, or a deus ex, they often lead to somewhere much worse than what we were trying to escape.

Dark Side of My Ribs is a lyric and poetry collection inspired by a broad selection of the author’s musical taste. A. M. Langston’s early love of music and participation in bands led to him becoming a lyricist. After many years writing poetry, it was time to reach back into that history to explore those roots from a more experienced point of view.

40 x 491 tells a modern western tale of how life-long friends Donovan, Arthur, Beatrice, and Colt deal with the putrid reality of a small town left to rot in the middle of the American desert. They bear witness to and struggle with domestic violence, substance abuse, and people trying to take advantage of them around every corner, all while simply trying to get by.

Francisco and Thomas moved out to the country to escape the noise of city life. All was going as planned until their quiet, elderly neighbors passed away and world renowned painter Radwin Ali moved in next door. Radwin Ali’s wild lifestyle soon catches up to him, bringing in unwanted attention that drives Francisco mad.

After a nasty blow to the head, Bert can’t understand what anyone is saying. What’s worse, is all of his friends now think he’s dying. What do you do with a friend who doesn’t have much time left? Road trip! It starts as a quirky adventure, but quickly morphs into a surreal disaster, brimming with death and confusion. Bert’s just along for the ride as new friends and drinking buddies try to tie up loose ends of their own.

If you could choose what your dreams would be about tonight, what would you choose? Would you be in the kitchen, holding a knife to the neck of an intruder? In the desert, lying under a flaming, wrecked car with the person you love? Reading “In Your Gourd, Off the Dime” can be letting A. M. Langston choose your dreams for you. Read a page right before bed, or read a few. Let the spirit of each poem cut open your window screen, and carry you to a dimension you’ve never visited before.

That Which Gets in the Way is the second poetry collection from American writer A.M. Langston and his third literary release. These poems were born out of a period in which the author faced deep depression. It is a dark, no holds barred confessional that takes the reader along on a ride to rock bottom and back. There are four parts to this collection, each one a milestone in the emotional journey. Part one reflects a struggle between depression, motivation, and inspiration. Part two showcases the beginning of progress up out of the pits of Langston’s soul. Parts three and four are full steam poetry and haikus.

From Couch to Couch, Never Leaving the House is a collection of poems by American writer A.M. Langston. This particular selection spans the time that he was living in Gallup, New Mexico and Columbia, South Carolina, before moving back across the U. S. to be with his future wife and to start college. These works are an expression of the poet being raised among a wide variety of rich cultures, while being isolated from his own extended family and that history.

Four is a psychedelic, stream of consciousness work by American writer A. M. Langston. The Novella was written during his teenage years while he lived in Gallup, New Mexico. The work is reminiscent of both Vonnegut’s Breakfast of Champions and Burroughs’ Naked Lunch. While the author’s inexperience and immaturity as a writer are evident at times, it is an unapologetic effort that is meant to be exactly what it is: a twenty-first century youth’s exploration into abstract story telling.