Although the poetry of J. T. Barbarese can be found in many literary magazines and journals, his poetry collections have not been widely reviewed. This is true for Barbarese’s collection The Black Beach, in which the poem “Walk Your Body Down” appears. Some poets, such as Eleanor Wilner (Reversing the Spell, 1998) have commented positively on Barbarese’s work, and Maxine Kumin (Jack and Other New Poems, 2005) has stated how she enjoyed Barbarese’s depictions of urban life.

The Black Beach won the 2004 Vassar Miller Prize, an award sponsored by the University of North Texas Press. Yet one of the few reviews available for Barbarese’s collection is not very complimentary. Dan Chiasson, writing for Poetry, states: “If you choose the everyday as your subject matter, you risk inconsequence,” which is how Chiasson sums up some of Barbarese...