With each book, getting blurbs for the back is a stranger, riskier process than seeking reviews. Somehow asking people you know (even tangentially) to say nice things is harder than asking perfect strangers to write whatever they want for public consumption. But so it goes. For Periodic Boyfriends, I was lucky enough to get blurbs from Obie-winning playwright Rochelle Owens (who participated in a Saint Flashlight project), editor Patrick Key (whose poetry website has published my work multiple times), playwright Linda Manning (for whom I served as a dramaturg) and Clarinda Harriss (who gave Infinity Standing Up a glowing review a few years back). [See back cover above.] Then I sent out review queries to over 100 publications. Here's the kind response I got in return from over a dozen publications:
Chelsea Community News: "As captivated as I was by the form and the connection of the elements, what makes this collection most endearing to me are the visions of love, long-lasting or fleeting, and the capture of free-wheeling emotion in a structured format."
CultureSonar: "It’s a gritty, beautiful tribute to people from his distant history and onward. And it is a masterpiece of love, lust, loss, and acceptance."
GCN: "a collection of gently written odes to sex in the 21st century."
Highland Park Poetry: "The sonnets, tightly constructed, with marvelously fashioned rhyme schemes, are outrageous, explicit, sometimes almost pornographic, hilarious..."
John V's Eclectic Avenue: "...a collection of witty, insightful and passionate examinations of his romantic adventures."
Loch Raven Review: "There is a simplicity to its structure and direct delivery but also great complexity with which it unapologetically portrays and humanizes those who exist on the margins of society."
London Grip: "Rabelaisian, witty, wistful and intelligent, Drew Pisarra’s poems are a delight to read. The very conceit of this collection – atomic love – is slick, brainy, and inspired." Modern Literature: "The poems can be read without any labelling, and on their own merit can give the reader immense satisfaction of having got a glimpse of the kaleidoscopic nature of various human beings."
Ocean State Review: "Pisarra never overstates the form and keeps each poem as varied as the qualities of the 118 elements."
Out in Print: "...a delightful concept and an interesting experience."
Ovunque Siamo: "Pisarra shows not only a keen understanding of chemistry theory and poetic craft, but of psychology and human relationships. These poems are, by turns, incisive, beautiful, salacious, wistful, and flat-out entertaining." (not online)
Penumbra: "The work is sexual and heady, but brings much more than that to the table the deeper one reads."
Sacred Chickens: "It’s a rare writer who can combine laughter and tragedy, light and darkness, not only in the same poem, but in the same sentence. Drew Pisarra is that writer."
The Washington Blade: "In the tight form of the sonnet – in just 14 lines – Pisarra presents a narrative with as many twists and turns (infused with irony, snark and tearing-up moments) as a compelling novel or must-binge-watch TV show. You can’t wait to turn the page or watch the next episode."
I was also beyond thankful for the book-related inteviews conducted over at Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Modern Literature, and Your Impossible Voice.
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