In this collection Kearney is largely looking at the African-American experience from the inside. Some may not be specific to African-Americans--the poems reflect American experience--but it all fits together.

Most of these I did not really get. References to movies and TV, music, the usual of poets referencing other poets. He uses a lot of word play, so understanding can be complicated. You have to get the references to know what he is talking about, let alone how it fits.

My favorite is "Eulogy for a Pair of Kicks", which is funny and clever, and I understood. I suspect most of these poems are this clever if you catch his references. Here we have wordplay on different types of shoes, different parts of shoes, uses of shoes, advertising of different brands. "It's gotta be the—!" ( )