Jill Alexander Essbaum's Harlot--How to Buy

"A collection aptly named—a Harlot in the truest sense—every poem a payoff in fleshy delight, palpable, nearly tasty and never a schoolgirl fumble or flop. Her unyielding talent for using language—and using it until it is red and sore—gives the reader an understanding of a poem's bones without exposing all of its secrets. Its sounds are real and guttural; the subjects are equally heady and addicting. Essbaum's talent for turning 'tricks' has earned her an intense collection of poetry that swims and shimmers and sears before it demands cash. Worth it every time." —Molly Arden