"Required reading for anyone wanting to learn about wit, wordplay, and good, gritty writing in general. Dean Baker knows how to turn a phrase upside down and kick it full strength out the door. Five stars, and here's to many more..." "What more powerful a statement can a poet express than "the word is not the thing," one of Baker's titles. This alone points to the depth of the hand that scribes words that point, words that depict, words that make real, what we all feel." Poetry and prose poems of a passionate & intense originality which transcends the boundaries of the everyday. Words that speak, sing, and witness to convey us beyond the poems themselves to allow fresh discovery with each reading. The 'neighborhood' is what we carry. The residences are our experience. The journey is what we make of each, together and individually. The poems transcend and convey the ability to do so in poetry and beyond, always renewing ourselves through works of this nature. from an early review " "Required reading for anyone wanting to learn about wit, wordplay, and good, gritty writing in general. Dean Baker knows how to turn a phrase upside down and kick it full strength out the door. Five stars, and here's to many more... ""