"Not merely boyhood but the gritty continent of American manhood is the territory this notable first book sets out to explore, a mythic landscape of faithless husbands, missing fathers, and obedient sons playing basketball in the shadow of John Wayne and JFK. I love the cultural energy unleashed in poems like 'Druid Hill' and 'Zona Blues,' the James Wright-like empathy this poet has for blue collar Baltimore men and women who 'spend the day in curlers/watching Bowling for Dollars.' When the pure products of America go crazy, Dean Smith has the eye and ear to transform their madness into poetry.
—Campbell McGrath