njderoche's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
Hoagland writes like a divorced man who is forced to reckon with himself and others for the first time. He notices the little people, acknowledges the harm people cause and the pain others feel every day. He is angry and everything and nothing. The poems feel like empty parking lots in business parks at night. It is easy to remember he is a man while writing all of these, and easy to picture the kind of man he might have been.
elibrooke's review against another edition
5.0
Took my time with it, took it on vacation but started and finished it at home, leaving lots of room around each poem to digest. I did laugh, I did cry, I did have all the feels.
piccoline's review against another edition
4.0
All the usual caveats about how I'm no poetry expert. I often enjoy Hoagland's work because it's funny, sly, and makes some good sharp criticisms of this thing we call America. I'd rank this collection below What Narcissism Means to Me, though perhaps I should meditate on that a bit. I felt in that collection he was consistently "punching up", where there were a few places here where he seemed to be punching down (ugh), or maybe sideways (meh).
Overall, though, plenty of good work here.
Overall, though, plenty of good work here.
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