Teams for a New Generation

JAD is a book-length poem about the relationship between the author and his best friend, Joann Antoinette DeVito. They were romantically involved initially, then remained best friends after the romantic relationship ended. In JAD their real lives and personalities are blended with imaginary situations and characters to describe their time together. James' roles in the relationship - Father, Mother, Brother, Child, Teacher, Lover, Friend provide the titles for the seven parts of the book. Each part is divided into four sections or mini-stories in which the author portrays some aspect of their lives together and expresses the powerful feelings they have for each other. A few of the stories are real, but the vast majority are mostly or completely symbolic. The settings range from a mountain meadow to a childhood home, while many of the stories are simply the author's thoughts. The diction varies from matter-of-fact to strikingly picturesque. Together the stories are designed to place the reader inside the relationship and inside the mind and heart of the author. JAD is original, perceptive, meticulously written, and powerfully inspirational, with numerous quotable phrases. It leaves the reader feeling a little saner, a little more optimistic about life.