REVIEWS

Violent Blues

In an affecting collection following his debut, Holding Ground, Willard recalls his responsibility for a terrible accident by saying that it “draws me like a blues harp/ soaked in whisky from which the bent yawl of reeds/ becomes the song I have to play.” Like any good bluesman, he plays that song without self-pity, portraying a lost moment in town at night, the “implicated guilt” inspired by his son’s teacher, the seasons running together as he “fail[s] progressively,” and the effort “to try to understand/ what makes things work”—his confusion eventually surmounted by love. VERDICT Perfectly tuned language and rhythm; many readers will identify with Willard’s quietly troubled thoughts and small-town settings.

-Library Journal Review

PURCHASE VIOLENT BLUES

Four Way Books
PO Box 535, Village Station
New York, NY 10014
www.fourwaybooks.com