Poetry. Italian-American. Sexual Abuse. "Peter Covino's first book is spacious, wonderfully unpredictable, and insistent on ambition and scope. CUT OFF THE EARS OF WINTER is not simply an autobiography but a poetic autobiography. It moves from the confessional--stories of the body and the family--to stories of the mind, art, and history. Especially compelling is the way in which the intimate biographies of flesh and family are entwined with and inextricable from matters of art and history... Restless, worldly, intelligent, and beautiful, CUT OFF THE EARS OF WINTER is an utterly original first...

Winner of the American Book Award (2009)

Please explores the points in our lives at which love and violence intersect. Drunk on its own rhythms and full of imaginative and often frightening imagery, Please is the album playing in the background of the history and culture that surround African American/male identity and sexuality. Just as radio favorites like Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, and Pink Floyd characterize loss, loneliness, addiction, and denial with their voices, these poems' chorus of speakers transform moments of intimacy and humor into spontaneous music. In Please,...