Individually powerful and collectively poignant, these poems explore the world of the male in pain, and his struggle to understand why. This poetry strives for an appreciation of what it means to be raised male in America in the past half-century, both considering generations of deep, Irish ambivalence and recent, personal relationships gone awry. Either way, any notions about masculinity or identity that readers of either sex bring to these poems will be challenged."—Peter F. Murphy, author of Studs, Tools, and the Family Jewels: Metaphors Men Live ByPaul Hogan is a poet and vice president of the John R. Oishei Foundation.