Surprise is what I treasure most in my reaction to art, and Hailey Leithauser’s Saint Worm surprises. Alternately funny and sad, creepy and comfy, disturbing and insightful, the book demands attention. Quirky as Stevie Smith and smart as Marianne Moore, what you hold in your hands is a masterpiece.
—Spencer Reece
PRAISE FOR HAILEY LEITHAUSER
“Meticulously crafted . . . Leithauser has style to spare, but also substance, and yes, playful, in the best sense of the word, pleasurable and pleasure-seeking . . . This is the trick Leithauser does so well, marrying delightful, silvery rhyme to darker content.”—Los Angles Review of Books
“The talent and craft exhibited here is cause for sheer glee . . . Leithauser’s agility of expression and biting sense of humor shine through . . . Here’s hoping this confident and deft collection will be the first of many from a powerful wordsmith.”—Shelf Awareness
“. . . In its playfulness, its confections of wordplay . . . Delightful.”—Boston Review
“A frantic argument in favor of obvious beauty, of ornament, and of elaborate jokes, as barriers against something like despair.”—Publishers Weekly
“Possessed of an unnatural ability with the language, preternatural grace in form, and an extraordinary capacity to be dead serious with killer humor.”—Women’s Voice for Change
“Hailey Leithauser’s intoxicating first collection, understands the physical nature of words and sounds. Her poems bounce along several registers, surprising us with their diction and resulting music . . . Swoop stands out as one of the most interesting books of this past year.”—32 Poems
