"In his magnificent poem 'Momentum,' as throughout ''Good Friday'', the poet Philip Heldrich, like the late W. C. Williams, demonstrates audaciously how, while 'pulled and tugged in the swirl of rush hour traffic,' we can, out of the American quotidian, locate and frame that which is beautiful."

"Philip Heldrich writes shapely poems that go places and share some wisdom with us. . . . He can capture a good deal of territory in a limited number of well-crafted words."

"Poet and pop culture aficionado Heldrich searches for the lyrical within his small midwestern meatpacking town and beyond. For Heldrich, lover of words, there is beauty to be found at the local dump: magazines (Kansas Farmer), discarded beverage bottles (“Golden Sound Basil Seed Drink”), even machine names (the “cram-a-lot” baler is a favorite). The resulting essays are a happy melding of social commentary with the best sort of travel writing. A finely crafted ode to target practice and male bonding set in a high country meadow in Colorado quietly evolves into a memorial for a lost friend. Another piece perfectly captures the surreal nature of the academic conference, made even more dreamlike by taking place in Norman, Oklahoma, five hours before a championship football game. (Heldrich succumbs to Husker and Sooner mania.) Driving around “out there,” whether it be Disneyland or the Central Plains, the author puts pen to paper, accurately capturing the essence of American culture."