JULES GIBBS is the author of the chapbook The Bulk of the Mailable Universe, and Bliss Crisis published by Sheep Meadow Press. She teaches literature and creative writing at Syracuse University.

"Jules Gibbs’ first book bristles with verbal energy, wit and intelligence. But her playful ironies don’t deprive her either of ambition or convictions: she tackles social injustice, cultural self-absorption, love and loss, with heart, verbal adventurousness and an already accomplished range of tones and voices. "To the Imaginary" may be one of the most marvelous exploratory poems about childlessness I’ve read. The syntax of "Even the Corpse Wants to be Beautiful" would impress Berryman with its confrontational pathos. The prose poem "Absorption (Self)" sends its probe to the heart of American narcissism, and like many poems here, can make you laugh out loud. Get used to her: after this marvelous debut I have a feeling her poems will be around for a long time."—Ira Sadoff