“There is a melancholy sweetness running through these poems that, whilenot entirely redemptive, offers unexpected relief and enables us to see thatJim Daniels, despite the tough-bitten talk, is a poet born to praise.”
    —Carol Muske, New York Times Book Review

“Jim Daniels has, with his third book, become an important successor toJames Wright and Phil Levine in describing men’s lives in the industrialheartland of America.”
    —Julia Stein, American Book Review

“Although Daniels’ verse is thematically dark, the energy and beauty ofhis language and his often brilliant use of irony affirm that a lighter sideexists. This young poet has already found his voice. And he speaks withthat rare urgency that demands we listen.”
    —Harvard Review

“There’s no false promises or fake uplift here, just a well-observed starein the face of uncomfortable truths.”
    —Time Out, London