“Neil Carpathios’s book is lively and erotic, sweet, sad, and funny–like the best parts of daily life. These are poems of tender observation, mindful of the many ways we worry about each other, and about the world in general, and about God as well, who may or may not be worrying about us…”
—Lawrence Raab
“Neil Carpathios exposes daily life unflinchingly. These are frank, razor-sharp and tender excursions into reality, with God, and with the dead, part of the daily round…”
—Jane Miller
“It’s been awhile since a young poet has badgered himself with as many imaginative questions as Neil Carpathios. He has committed his ‘looking’ into the immediate possibilities of reality…thus, these poems are fueled, line-by-line, by all of life’s negotiations.”
—Thomas Sayers Ellis
“Neil Carpathios is a poet full of grace.”
—Denise Duhamel
“Any poet who can compare taking communion to swallowing a sea-monkey, or a stand of trees to a classroom full of children raising their hands, or pneumonia to taking a swim forever, immediately gets my attention. Carpathios connects the dots of the world with his poems, and makes a wholeness (which is hope) that is rare and original, which is what Beyond the Bones is: original and rare.”
—Thomas Lux
“He delves do near to the heart and dares to put on paper what it’s like to be human, with all its blessings, fears, curses, and wonders.’
—Nin Andrews
“I can think of few poets who could serve as more reliable guides to the confusing and beautiful terrain of the heart.”
—George Bilgere