…has a lot of outstanding stuff in it as usual, including this beautiful poem, “Annus Mirabilis of Mada Primavesi,” by Virginia Konchan, and a substantive, generous review of Robinson Alone  done by DC-based poet and editor Michael Gushue.

“Rooney, on the other hand, really has concocted a connected series of poems that work like fiction (where you want to know “what happens next”). Books like this can be fun to read, but they have a tendency to fall short as either fiction or poetry. Rooney’s book is the rare exception that satisfies the demands of both. The poems hold their integrity and work individually, and they also advance stepwise, creating a narrative arc that works as a story. It really is a string of poems containing a novel,” he says.

Thanks, Michael.