"In much of his work, he seems to be on an almost religious pilgrimage, moving away from the center of his life and family, then back again. As readers, we want him to enjoy the pleasures of his life, but we realize that if he had, we would be denied the complexity of his poetry. One can only wish that he had lived longer to express more of what his incredible talent had promised."–Douglas Messerli, HYPERALLERGIC
"The editors of the Collected Poems, Rosemary Ceravolo and Parker Smathers, have made a wise choice here to arrange the poet's books chronologically rather than by publication date. This decision allows readers to develop a more sophisticated view of Ceravolo's evolution as a poet. Work such as Ceravolo's bucked the Eastern spirituality trend in the 1960s and 70s, exemplified by poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman, and the founding of the Naropa Institute in 1974. From Transmigration Solo to Mad Angels Ceravolo kept returning to life and spirit. He married, had a family, engineered roads, and wrote poems, all these more or less the concerns of his life. These concerns cause Ceravolo to stand a bit apart from New York School compatriots such as Ted Berrigan and Ron Padgett. As word of Cervolo's work spreads, thanks to the publication of the Collected Poems, it will be interesting to see how much the poet's spiritual concerns matter to his readers when so much of what has drawn readers in over the years is his playful disregard for typical syntax and the feeling that Ceravolo could say anything and it would sound wonderful. For this reader, the poet cannot be broken into parts. Without spirit one cannot have the concerns of life."–Zoland Poetry
"Possibly the New York School's biggest secret–because the publicity-shy poet died young–is Joseph Ceravolo. His poetry is wonderful, it is distinctive, in some ways it seems anomalous in the New York context."–David Lehman, Best American Poetry Blog
"Ceravolo transcends the canon(his) verse is at once classical and fresh, tender and profound, succinct and expansive, tantalizingly parseable yet divinely ineffable. It would take a lifetime of expert reading to fully appreciate this lifetime of superlative writing; with the long-awaited publication of a collected Ceravolo, America's contemporary poetry readers now have the opportunity to do their part."–Seth Abramson, Huffington Post
"Fascinating, unwieldy, and sometimes sublime, this first collected for the New Jersey-based Ceravolo (1934-88) reveals a poet wilder–and potentially far more popular–than the one all but a few strong admirers know.This big book will spark new interest; it might even attract fans of Rumi, or of the Beats."–Publishers Weekly
"We're getting nervous and shaky just thinking about it-unless that's the overcoffee-no, no, it's all due to the forthcoming Collected Poems"–Harriet, the Poetry Foundation Blog
"'The overlooked genius of American poetry, ' as David Lethem states in the introduction, Ceravolo (1934-88) emerges from the opening poems of his first book, Fits of Dawn (1965), as speech churns sound and meaning goes 'round and 'round–'Mounting!/ O dive! song song restay fairness of/ dawn. That cry of/ booze that sparrow/ of soul 'miradel'/ unique justly lotus/ nothingless char of sunday./ Vicious of moon for the actual./ Live digress.' His first-ever collected; essential."–Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal
