PositivePittsburgh Post-Gazette\"At once firmly political, critical, autobiographical and forward-looking, this book is a torrent of writing that will leave readers awash in language and perspective a century in the making. Truly, Little Boy brakes for nothing; even so much as a period rarely interrupts the flow of thinking pouring through these pages. And nothing is off the table for the self-described philosophical anarchist, as politics, religion, sex, history — and, yes, even social media — all find themselves subject to examination. Fans of breaking down such sectors of life will be big fans of Little Boy. ... The nonstop accumulation of deep feeling and thinking is at once inspiring and exhaustive ... Readers might find affinity in such musings, but lest you look for comfort, do not hope to find it here ... what Ferlinghetti delivers is a book that truly has to be read and wrestled with to be fully understood ... Like the body of work that precedes it, this book is well worth the ride.\
Brad Felver
RaveThe Pittsburgh Post-GazetteLike the steps on the cover, Mr. Felver lays his words down in these stories in such a precise way that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to pull yourself away from a story once you’ve started ... Mr. Felver’s writing also hooked me at a very important point for any story: the first line ... While it was tempting at times to jump around from story to story, there was no escaping the next tale once I’d seen its opening line ... For me, what was most absorbing was the onslaught of obstacles thrown in the way of all the characters, but also the various levels of grit and resilience they took to persevere ... This book is full of stories that speak to me as an ordinary person and my experiences. This book will do the same for other readers. There is hope and value in all the gritty, passionate, difficult storytelling that Brad Felver delivers.
Terrance Hayes
RavePittsburgh Post-GazettePain and poignancy collide in this collection of 70 sonnets — all of them bearing the book’s title — spread across five sections of 14 sonnets each, a meta nod to the awareness and introspection the book aims to deliver. And deliver it does ... persuasively asks what room a “MAGA” world leaves for Blackness, for fatherhood, for freedom, and for the self ... For me, the sonnet is an old and storied, if not somewhat dry, form, but in Mr. Hayes’ hands it finds new agency ... In American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin, this urgency is expressed through the finely honed wit, lyricism, and poetic prowess of Terrance Hayes.
