“Manny is sharing more than trade secrets when it comes to being this city’s Poet Laureate. In this collection, you get equal parts ‘the joys of the job’ and ‘the job of the joy.’”—Hakim Bellamy, Inaugural Albuquerque Poet Laureate and author of Swear
“Manuel González’s poet-duende swaggers through the Burque streets, orgullosamente, con honor y respeto. His duende loco is proud, honoring, and respectful. But González’s duende also speaks in parables of poetic hard-truths that prompt us to think, feel, muse, and ask questions about ourselves and the worlds we inhabit.”—Levi Romero, Inaugural New Mexico Poet Laureate and author of A Poetry of Remembrance: New and Rejected Works
“González’s beloved Albuquerque reads as a poem, and the soul of a poet merges with the joys, pain, struggles, and healing of a people. An instant classic.”—Matt Sedillo, author of Mowing Leaves of Grass and literary director of the dA Center for the Arts