Channeling cinematic depictions of reality from scifi classics like Killer Klowns from Outer Space to Tarantino and Bunuel, Alan Catlin artfully shows us the underbelly of The American Dream. The glamour of the bar, the juke joint, the dive, is revealed as nothing but seedy and sad, like the wasted lives of so many of the protagonists of these poems whose ironic titles of famous films reinforce the illusions of charm and enchantment that drive so many to disillusionment and despair. Catlin strips away the mirage of the banquet and, like Burroughs, shows us the piece of meat quivering on the end of the fork.
-Charles Rammelkamp, author of Ugler Lee and The Field of Happiness
This collection is like a sharp, stainless-steel blade and gives the reader a taste of an America we might have seen through a Philip Marlowe's eyes. It's a powerful ride, in fact it's more like a rollercoaster. I couldn't get quickly enough to the next poem and read it like a private-eye novel and thought more than once of Edward Hopper scenes. Catlin has produced a masterpiece writing with a fury from an angry and disappointed love for America.
-Rose Mary Boehm, author of The Rain Girl (Chaffinch Press, Ireland)