Exactly Like You and Other Poems Author:John Stringer It has been said that ?life comes before literature,? and while that is frequently not the case, it does accurately describe the career of John Stringer. An internationally respected materials scientist specializing in corrosion and energy research, as well as an accomplished (and busy) jazz clarinetist, he did not begin writing poetry until mid... more »dle age. It was a time when his career was going from strength to strength, but also one in which he was increasingly away from home. The time alone in foreign countries and mind-numbingly similar hotel rooms resulted in introspection and an examination of his life and the places and people he had encountered along the way. He began writing poetry on napkins and scraps of hotel notepaper, many of which his wife discovered in his pockets and carefully set aside. As he wrote more, his skill grew, with the result that he completed more than one hundred and fifty short poems as well as a few more epic works. This book is a selection of those shorter verses, reflecting on every aspect of his life and revealing the insecurities, desires, and trepidations that we all feel are not the things that set us apart, but the very things that draw us together?and that even the process of renting a car is worth a line or two.« less