D, James: Goldfinch Caution Tapes

Waywiser Press, The, paperback

Publication Date: March 1, 2023

Publisher Marketing: Winner of the 17th Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize, awarded by judge Alice Fulton.

"D'Agostino's poetry is inexhaustible in the most seductive way, and I say that with confidence after rereadings that left me boggled, dazzled, smitten, amazed, wowed, charmed ... Though I can't adequately express the book's dissonant beauty, I can say it was thrilling to discover poems packed with infinite resonance that are infinitely fun to read ... Like the greatest lyric poetry, his poems ... keep ... exceeding their bounds and creating revelation. What a surprise. What a find. What a cool poet. What a feast."-- from Alice Fulton's foreword

"This book is a heroic feat of observational meteorology, a rallying cry, and the now definitive handbook on Midwestern punk zazen. These poems move like David Byrne dances: they're jittery, funny, and deeply soulful all at the same time. They perfectly demonstrate the wild beauty and strangeness of our predicament. 'Just wait a minute and the bang / keeps getting bigger.' This book, too, resounds."-- Dobby Gibson, author of Little Glass Planet

"I'm not suggesting that D'Agostino is a seer, though he may be; I'm just saying that his poems run roughshod over the rules of our language--and in so doing they slam us headlong into genuine discovery: Instead of the epiphany of recognition, D'Agostino's book offers experiences that couldn't exist outside of their language, which makes our encounter with them not a recognition but a revelation"-- Dan Rosenberg, author of Bassinet

"Sui Generis: original, strange, exceptional, solitary."-- Mary Ruefle, author of Dunce

Poetry.