It's where Walt Whitman meets Michael Jackson. It's where Emily Dickinson meets Mary J. Blige. It's Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam, the lyrical, smart, hilarious, and searingly honest new show that has become a true phenomenon on Broadway, earning critical raves and drawing huge cheers nightly. Def Poetry Jam is an experience that's not to be missed: Nine gifted, young poets speaking from the heart about everything from love to sex, politics, and Krispy Kreme donuts. If Langston Hughes or Virginia Woolf were alive today, this is what they'd sound like.

The roster includes both well-established and up-and-coming poets -- including Suheir Hammad, author of Born Palestinian, Born Black; Black Ice, a.k.a. Lamar Manson, the first spoken-word artist to be signed to Def Jam Records; Beau Sia, author of "A Night Without Armor II: The Revenge, " and a two-time National Poetry Slam champion; and Poetri, one of the founders of Da Poetry Lounge in Los Angeles.

Essential for every fan of contemporary poetry, "Russell Simmons Def Jam on Broadway...and More" is a cutting-edge and constantly surprising volume that takes a fresh, exuberant, sometimes insightful, sometimes comedic look at who we are and where we are today.