D.J. Haliday's opus on coming of age in the American landscape of the late 20th century, Young American Blues is an anthology of his nine books of verse written between 1984 and 2001: Effervescent Ecstasy, Aloof Inside the Cockpit Searching for the Promised Land, The Modern Mountain, Fleas Inside the Store, Nature is Not For Cardboard Boxes, A Buskin For the Frump, Grunge, and Spring Rain Independence.