{"product_id":"brooke-j-i-can-tellpb","title":"Brooke, J: I Can Tell You the Version That Will Make You Take My Side","description":"\u003cp\u003eDriftwood Press, paperback\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublication Date: June 2, 2026\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublisher Marketing: J Brooke's I Can Tell You the Version That Will Make You Take My Side begins in a rich and specific New York City childhood full of binaries, then catapults into a fully realized, self-aware adulthood where the speaker experiences parenting, a breast cancer scare, and the complicated questioning of top-surgery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"A beautiful book of poetry following one human's journey towards themselves, illuminating gender identity and the culture that surrounds us all-insightful and inspiring!\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRosie O'Donnell, Performer\/Activist\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Funny and surprising, a real gem.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHannah Gadsby, Comedian\/Writer\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The poems found in I Can Tell You the Version That Will Make You Take My Side are as intentional and full-bodied as the poet who penned them. J Brooke is a truth-teller with a gift for precise storytelling who walks the reader through the dark and light spaces of a life evolving, becoming anew.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAmanda Johnston, 61st Texas Poet Laureate\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"J Brooke's I Can Tell You the Version That Will Make You Take My Side is a book of rare courage-one that refuses performance, explanation, or any version that might win easy sympathy. Instead, these poems stand in the full, contradictory glare of memory and body, and say: I am here, I will not simplify what I carry. What lingers isn't a neat resolution but the stubborn dignity of survival-the daily, unspectacular ache of choosing to live honestly, with humor and care, even when the world demands a tidier answer. This is a collection that trusts the reader with what is unfinished and unfixable, and in doing so, offers something like hope-hope that we, too, might live inside our own contradictions and be seen.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMorgan Talty, author of Night of the Living Rez: Stories \u0026amp; Fire Exit\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Open Books: A Poem Emporium","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44661376516119,"sku":"9781949065435","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0004\/6497\/7956\/files\/1772058093-900.jpg?v=1772309645","url":"https:\/\/open-books-a-poem-emporium.myshopify.com\/products\/brooke-j-i-can-tellpb","provider":"Open Books: A Poem Emporium","version":"1.0","type":"link"}