Jersey Mercy

Poetry. Set along the Jersey shore, before and after Hurricane Sandy, these narratives vividly capture the lives and speech of Jersey denizens like Mercy, a young waitresses, and Tino, a boardwalk musician. Piers, racetracks, and bars endure natural disasters. Mercy, too, endures. McCullough’s craft is striking. Her portraits are empathic, alive. The lines are drenched with music. Words surge, crash precisely on the page. JERSEY MERCY is a gorgeous interrogation of language and landscape.–Eduardo C. Corral