Air Traffic: A Memoir of Ambition and Manhood in America

Pardlo, winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, turns his attention to autobiography in a rare and honest view of an artist in the prime of his career. The author did not follow the usual course to literary success. In this memoir, he describes life in a stable family in Willingboro, NJ, until his father was fired from his job as an air traffic controller because of his involvement in the 1981 Air Traffic Controllers strike. Pardlo then joined the marines, went to Denmark, spent years in and out of college, and battled alcoholism. As he grew into maturity, he struggled with the legacy of his father and family relationships, a story laced with passion and humor all within the perspective of growing up as a black man in America. The author's views on reading and writing poetry assist in creating a picture of how he sees life and the medium of his artistry. As he explains, poetry never paid his bar bill or made him virtuous but helps him avoid "blind spots," which block his progressions to growth and manhood.