Video: “Careful What You Ask For” by Jack McCarthy

Jack McCarthy (1939 – 2013) was an American writer and slam poet whose book, Say Goodnight, Grace Notes, was released in 2003 by EM Press. His work appeared in a number of anthologies, including The Spoken Word Revolution, and the film Slamnation.

Donna Seaman, reviewing for Booklist, says, “McCarthy is now not only a much-loved star in the performance poetry world, he’s also a vibrant and inspiriting poet on the page. A self-described working guy who has battled a number of unhealthy addictions, McCarthy brings his compelling experiences to his poetry with nimble humor, hard-won wisdom, and a raconteur’s knack for telling diabolically barbed stories. In his admiring introduction, poet Thomas Lux praises McCarthy for his ‘natural, unforced,’ voice, and for his unfailing lucidity, and indeed, McCarthy is concrete, candid, personal, and utterly captivating. He’s also caustic, sexy, and smart. As he writes with wry insight about his boyhood, Catholicism, the Red Sox, asteroids, his daughters, old cars, advertising, our time as the ‘Golden Age of the Opinion,’ and his love for his wife, he casually but resoundingly extrapolates invaluable lessons in living from each memory, episode, observation, and meditation.”

Original score composed and performed by Alex Mandel and the Snap Judgment Playaz.