Reviews for The Dangerous Shirt

The average rating for The Dangerous Shirt based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-03-22 00:00:00 Dimitrios Solomos 3 stars? An Orion's belt? Make it 4. I'm in a good mood. Hell, 5. Lucidity is the key word here that opens an unlocked lock. Lucidity to its most tactile degree. Like, way lucid, way lucider then stone statuette or 3D-Rom escapade (wait, that's not a good one). I mean, that funky space between words, a lot of us are into that. And lots can be done with it. But these po's are the exact opposite of any kind of obfuscating creativity, any construction in the realm of wonderment. There's no not having a basic-(yet,-primeval?)-through-line through these things. If I were to use a painter parallel, hmmm, perhaps Bonnard, a lot of pedestrian things made yur-sublime. It goes about this with an innocuousness too, that's the damn kicker. They hover really close to triviality, that's where the action's at. It's dangerously banal. Too accessible. The best poems are the subject-centered ones and it's through very common nouns, paired with plain language (air flavored ice cream language, banish all dictionaries language) and WAM, BAM you got some kickass poems. I think the achievement is unique. Sometimes, he'd get pulled into more time-memory-presence poems, I'd set the book-on-chest and think "You know who really awesome poems about time and stuff, John Koethe". And in that boxing match, Dangerous Shirt guy gets clobbered. The everyman simulacra are more in the poet's powers. Would it still be a life without still lifes? Hmm? Mmm, you see, I got you there.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-04-22 00:00:00 Melina Sfakianaki Short disclaimer: Tito is a 21-years friend. He is one of the most generous literary citizens I know. He has supported me and mentored me and shown me all kinds of kindnesses that I can never repay. So take my review for what it is: I'm not just a fan of his writing, I'm someone who respects him and hopes I can be such an inspiration to others some day. Thank you for this book and these poems, Tito, and for everything you do to support writers everywhere. I heard Tito read from this book at a celebration of his new post as Arizona Poet Laureate. I took a large group of my students with me--some who had not heard Tito's work--and they were so happy and energized afterwards. Tito's poems pack big stories in small packages, and never fail to move the reader, even those who are new to poetry. Some of my favorite moments: "The other boy would always be shouting come on instead of go away." "I walk on the ground but see no ground beneath me." "Here, the sky was full of anti-stars, of also-stars, Quartz and glass buttons, tin lids and dimes." "Finding the century hidden in every half-second." "Wherever we sit these days is a waiting room." "Rain falls down wet and gets up green." "Tomorrow is a country I have not visited." "A pie is a pie for one great day." "What I feel in my hand is what I see in the sky." "If it looks like rain, don't say it out loud." "I am the commander of the suddenly portly vessel of myself."