"These poems feel chatty, associative, almost tossed off despite their sonic tightness, carefully arranged to sound improvised. Shapero aspires to replace the obvious architectonics of other poetry with her own appalled, off-the-cuff humour, the tapestry of everyday experience with a series of sharp blades. That means the cuts are the tapestry."–Stephanie Burt, London Review of Books
"Natalie Shapero is the poet I'd most like to have at a dinner party, and Popular Longing is a perfect example of why. Her sharp observations of human weirdness are just unparalleled. Popular Longing is cutting, clever, and a criticism of modern culture. Shapero knows no bounds here, and it makes for a remarkable read." –Electric Lit
"Here the oddities of our very human lives are keenly observed in bright lyric perfection... Shapero's insights are bold, metaphysical, and serpentine... 'Don't Spend It All in One Place, ' the book's longest poem, is a masterful romp through Shapero's quick-witted and asymmetrical mode of thinking. It's funny and serious all at once, like so much of our lives."–
Booklist"In
Popular Longing, Griffin Prize shortlistee Natalie Shapero confronts life's absurdities with decided brio."–
Library Journal
