Living on Madison Avenue - Paperback

by Diane Kistner (Editor), David Lawrence (Author)

In LIVING ON MADISON AVENUE (set, obviously, on Madison Avenue, a rich area of New York), Lawrence sews together snatches from his mature life and the hurt of his younger years. Maturing from his confused youth into a solid marriage, along the way Lawrence dodged the Vietnam draft and later served a two-year jail sentence for tax evasion. He praises how lithium flattened out his manic-depression, itemizes the death of his relatives and friends, and describes the dead: "Delicious, I love them all, all my little candies made out of memories and chocolate." Woven through all his life experiences is his evolving association with his wife as she tries "to bite into the knuckles and meat / of our relationship."

Author Biography

David Lawrence has published a thousand poems in magazines (North American Review, Atlanta Review, Poet Lore, The Antioch Review, Nimrod, Redivider, etc.) and five poetry books, including Lane Changes, a runner-up for the Levis Prize. Lawrence has a Ph.D. in English literature and has served as the CEO of several Wall Street insurance agencies. While pursuing his business career, he became a ranked professional boxer, a ranked USTA tennis player, and a ranked slalom and giant slalom ski racer in the ESA. In 1993, he went to jail for two years for tax evasion. He made three rap albums and a jazz album and also starred in the movie Boxer Rebellion at the Sundance Film Festival. Lawrence's memoir, The King of White-Collar Boxing, was published by Rain Mountain Press in 2012. He teaches boxing at Gleason's Gym and has acted and modeled. He lives in New York City with his wife, Lauren.