Click play to listen. Recorded on November 5, 2006.
With great authority and inflection, actor Tracy Letts reads Yusef Komunyakaa’s poem The Autobiography of My Alter Ego, a tale in which Komunyakaa fictionally recalls his haunting days as a soldier in Vietnam. The poem touches on Komunyakaa’s childhood in Louisiana and his parents’ reaction to his enlistment into the army. This poetic monologue characterizes the veteran with great voice, demonstrating the author's feat of empathic and empathetic imagination.
