About
I've retired from the corporate world America loves so much. In 2012, after 14 years of releasing medical records, I am focused on releasing things I create. I am the Indie author of the novel The Orthodoxy of Arrogance and poetry book Scenes the Writer Shows {forty-one places a poem can go}. I have been published by various online magazines and anthologies. My second novel, Agent of Orange, came out in February of 2014. A collection of 60 poems relating to chosen veins of human existence (marriage, politics, religion, technology, ect.), When Monkeys feel Rhythms, was published in June of 2014.
Description
<p>It’s hard to be committed to anyone when you don’t know whom to trust.</p><p>Alexis Toles, a former FBI agent turned undercover CIA agent, is quickly finding that out in Nancy Ann Healy’s newest political thriller, <i>Commitment</i>.</p><p>Alex embeds in a secret organization of intelligence operatives known as The Collaborative. Its partners include operatives from the CIA, National Security Agency, FBI, US Department of Defense, and an entanglement of foreign intelligence agencies.</p><p>It’s about half a year after the death of President John Merrow, a friend and someone she respected. But she remains committed to overthrowing The Collaborative as she works with a onetime adversary who believes the organization’s involved in the president’s death.</p><p>Meanwhile Alex; her wife, Cassidy O’Brien; and Cassidy’s son try hard to live as a family but must first overcome personal struggles, including a nasty custody battle with Cassidy’s ex-husband, Congressman Christopher O’Brien. The family has their own share of secrets that, if unleashed, could affect their hopes for the future.</p><p>There’s no place to turn without discovering people who are not who they claim to be. That can’t stop Alex. She must remain committed to the cause, both at home and as she works against The Collaborative.</p>
Story Behind The Book
When Monkeys feel Rhythms is a compilation of sixty poems. Each fit a relation to life we all know. The poems evolved. It was serendipity that this collection gels together to tell a story, to read like a grocery list of caveats to pass by in the supermarket of life.
Reviews
<p>Amazon Customer review</p>
<p>Multi-layered and enjoyable</p>
<p>Ellen L-7/9/14</p>
<p>~The poems in Michael Amram’s evocatively titled When Monkeys Feel Rhythms range from humorous to gritty. Grouped in sections—spatial relationships, religion, politics, friendship, marriage, aging and technology—the compact verses paint a concrete picture in the reader’s mind while turning mundane objects lyrical. The poems can be relished literally before letting the mind interpret and interpolate what the poet says using the ordinary to explore the extraordinary. One of my favorites can be found in Labors of Fruits: “she intended to live to a ripe age; like a banana does with spots and sweet smells that would arouse what senses were dulled.”<br />
One of the delights of When Monkeys Feel Rhythms is Amram’s clever word plays. In Squeeze Play, for example, a fired employee is given an accordion file and riffs on adopting a monkey to earn coins in the street. In Hands That Fold Empty, a line about mustard stains is followed by one about planting seeds in minds. As Wheels Turned remembers a time “when gray mattered and earth was ripe to plant seeds that grew once to stem a brain.”<br />
While Amram’s young mixologist friend in Limestone Ruins may spike his drinks with tea and offer mugs of kindness, the poems in When Monkeys Feel Rhythms spike the mind with beauty and offer mugs of reflection.</p>
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5.0 out of 5 stars A great read from the interesting title to the last poem., August 16, 2014</p>
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<p>By</p>
<p>Mary Jo Reed</p>
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This review is from: When Monkeys Feel Rhythms (Paperback)</p>
<p>I enjoyed reading Michael's poetry book. There is a such a wide variety of topics. Everything from religion, to politics, to technology, something for everyone. He has a unique outlook on life which I like learning about. I highly recommend his book to poetry lovers.</p>