Broke Stay Broke - by Tim Stafford (Paperback)

About the Book

Through these poems, Tim illustrates the delicate balancing act of work, relationships, fatherhood, and art.

Book Synopsis

Before becoming an educator, Tim Stafford worked as a telemarketer, burger flipper, jiu-jitsu instructor, MMA referee, and print shop lackey. His book, Broke Stay Broke explores the world of the working poor, the world of second jobs, side-hustles, and accumulated debt. Stafford's poems are filled with insight and humor from someone who has lived through the struggle but still finds time to celebrate the come-ups. Through these poems, Tim illustrates the delicate balancing act of work, relationships, fatherhood, and art. Sometimes he gets it right, sometimes wrong, but the poems are always honest.

Review Quotes

Tim Stafford is the poet laureate of the payday loan. The poems in Broke Stay Broke sing with humor and charm about the truth that so many of us in this country live on the edge of ruin and call it a life...-- Nate Marshall, Author of Finna

Read this book. If you're not laughing, you're not paying attention. If you're only laughing, you're also not paying attention. This is a crossroads, where the super-real meets the highly imagined. Where the corner booth meets the dentist's chair. Where the skateboard meets the CTA meets the car invariably and ever at the mechanic's. If you've ever ignored every call for a month in case one was from a debt collector, you'll want to read this book. If you have not, then you need to read this book. What I'm saying is, read it. You can pay me back later. -- Marty McConnell, Author of Gathering Voices: Creating a Community-Based Writing Workshop

This collection reminds us of the simple joy of finding spare change in your front left pocket like Plinko chips pinging from side to side in your palm. In this collection, scratch-off tickets are sacred, as is the basement filled with 20 drunk uncles and cousins to split the cost of a pay-per-view fight, as is the cake whose shape shall remain erect in your mind for months after reading about it. In this collection, a broke boy who was friends with a lot of broker boys (and even a couple of rich kids) will cut up with you, cut a credit card in half with you, cut through the bullshit with you. This book is funny as hell and has the heart of that one best friend you had in middle school who was always broke but never broken by life. -- Joaquín Zihuatanejo, Author of Occupy Whiteness and Arsonist

About the Author

Tim is a former Chicago Poetry Slam Champion whose work has appeared on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, PBS, and Chicago Public Radio. He performs regularly around the U.S. and Europe at festivals such as the German National Poetry Slam, WOERDZ Fest (Switzerland), International Spoken Word Festival (Germany), and the Malmo Poetry Slam (Sweden). His work has been printed in numerous magazines and anthologies including The Offing, Freeze Ray Poetry, 68 to 05, and Taco Bell Quarterly. Tim is the editor of the all ages anthology series Learn Then Burn (Write Bloody Books) and the author of the poetry collection The Patron Saint of Making Curfew (Haymarket Books).,
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