"Garrett Caples's Power Ballads offers rhythmic insight into the youthful heyday of Generation X. Interspersing references to hip-hop culture, modernist poets, and classic rock legends, Caples uses his experience as an artistic insider to show us the rise of a new musical genre. In both free verse and prose poetry, the author delivers profound insights with lyrical prowess, using slant rhymes and alliteration to capture what growing up in the first MTV generation was like."–Cherise Oakley, Rain Taxi"Caples (Complications) fills his newest collection with musicality and pathos, anchoring his playful language with ardent longing. Just like great power ballads, these poems are maudlin yet still authentically moving...A love song to Oakland, to idols, and to love itself, Caples's raucous, tender, and tuneful collection lives up to its title."–Publishers Weekly