Love Ends in a Tandem Kayak by Derrick C. Brown

For fans of the fantastical. For fans of unforgettable, gut-punch imagery. This visceral book veers wildly from humor to heartache.

This new collection holds three chapters that venture from love and memory into loneliness and sorrow, ending in the chase for hardcore joy. Due to patient years of editing, tweaking, and sorting, this is Brown’s most thoughtful collection. The pages have an economical beauty, and it is the most complete, compelling, and stunning book the author has ever written.

Love Ends in A Tandem Kayak is the death of stunted, academic fluffing in the world of fast, junk food verse. It is the embrace of saying the hard thing without the adornment of trite, fraudulent wisdom.

This book explores madness, comedy, and despair in attempt to crawl toward the confusing light. These poems are a deep dive into the battle for staying alert in self-love, nude grief, and the revealed embarrassments and humor of being human. It’s funny, and it is beautifully heavy.

If you've got a deep wound, this book will try to hold your hand and guide you to needle and thread.

PRAISE:

"I’ve done a few shows with Derrick and I love how his poems connect with an audience with these unique setups and surprise left hooks. He is a chef that serves my favorite recipe of sarcastic but never cynical. The pieces are funny as hell and some are fearlessly heavy, with a naked sadness, and some are very stupid. Is that courageous? There is something very human in riding that roller coaster in front of an audience, conducting us from laughter to wonder. It’s fair to say that he is my favorite living poet over six feet tall that isn’t on heroin.”

-Bobcat Goldthwait, Comedian, Director

"Derrick C. brown is a heart whisperer & this collection is no exception. Equal parts devastating, hilarious, and swoon-worthy, Love Ends in a Tandem Kayak is a roadmap for every romantic looking to stay hopeful, a reminder that when love abandons us, it’s only making room for more of itself to squeeze in."

-Olivia Gatwood, Life of the Party