In this touching and humorous essay, John Philip Drury recounts coming of age during the Vietnam Era. With a low draft number and an exit from college looming, Drury faces the imminent possibility of fighting in a war that he opposes. In the meantime, he tries and abandons a dream to become a songwriter, labors mightily to lose his virginity, and looks to the adult world around him for models of what he most wants to be -- an artist. "Heading for a Total Eclipse" takes a look at a young man's attempt to maintain his integrity during a turbulent era, and in the face of impossible choices.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Philip Drury teaches at the University of Cincinnati. He is the author of four full-length poetry collections: Sea Level Rising (Able Muse Press, 2015), The Refugee Camp (Turning Point Books, 2011), Burning the Aspern Papers (Miami University Press, 2003), and The Disappearing Town (Miami University Press, 2000). He has also written The Poetry Dictionary and Creating Poetry (both from Writer’s Digest Books). His awards include an Ingram Merrill Foundation fellowship, two Ohio Arts Council grants, and the Bernard F. Conners Prize from The Paris Review. Another narrative essay, “The House That She Designed,” appeared in The Gettysburg Review (Summer 2011), and “Interrogator’s Guide” is forthcoming in The Evansville Review. “Heading for a Total Eclipse” is the opening chapter of a picaresque memoir, The Bad Soldier.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Philip Drury teaches at the University of Cincinnati. He is the author of four full-length poetry collections: Sea Level Rising (Able Muse Press, 2015), The Refugee Camp (Turning Point Books, 2011), Burning the Aspern Papers (Miami University Press, 2003), and The Disappearing Town (Miami University Press, 2000). He has also written The Poetry Dictionary and Creating Poetry (both from Writer’s Digest Books). His awards include an Ingram Merrill Foundation fellowship, two Ohio Arts Council grants, and the Bernard F. Conners Prize from The Paris Review. Another narrative essay, “The House That She Designed,” appeared in The Gettysburg Review (Summer 2011), and “Interrogator’s Guide” is forthcoming in The Evansville Review. “Heading for a Total Eclipse” is the opening chapter of a picaresque memoir, The Bad Soldier.
