Jay Baron Nicorvo’s debut collection revolves around a central character, called Deadbeat-a descendant of John Berryman’s Mr. Bones, Marvin Bell’s Dead Man and Ted Hughes’s Crow, to name an irrepressible few. The poems weave together a domestic narrative as Deadbeat himself muddles through courtship, marriage, divorce, estrangement and, of course, fatherhood. An effigy for America and our culture of recession, Deadbeat is brought to life with honesty, sympathy and love in all of its complications.