After the Honeymoon

“After the Honeymoon is a fine addition to this young poet’s body of work. Simple thoughts simply written, deeply felt meditations on everyday life, and ability to write locally with universal themes; if Manchester ever is looking for an official city poet, I will be the first to nominate Graziano.”
—The Hippo

“Most of the poems are located within chaotic and troubled existences—lives of alienation, alcoholism and recovery, spousal violence, etc. I have a large amount of admiration for Graziano and his speakers who are determined to find meaning and beauty in the many faces of social dysfunction.”
—NewPages

"After the Honeymoon is a clever, observant exploration of youth and its loss (Part I), alcoholism and addiction (Part II), marriage and its demise (Part III), and parenting (Part IV). ... Graziano has a way of evincing distilled truth from every situation, and in language that feels just right for the moment. ... The collection as a whole is resolute with strength and honesty.”
—Prick of the Spindle

"Who doesn’t like Nathan Graziano? Raise your hand. You! You who raised your hand go read After the Honeymoon. He’ll swoon you like you’re in Niagara Falls."

--Redactions

Blurbs:

"Nate Graziano is master of that which startles yet succeeds the way nothing familiar can, as when he writes that the chicken fingers and fries in a kid's meal sit on her plate 'like dead relatives in lawn chairs.' But it's lines like 'Beautiful women kill me and now I'm dead' that make me stand tall, make me proud to be an American poet."

~David Kirby, author of The House on Boulevard St.

"Nathan Graziano's After the Honeymoon is a chronicle of afters, not just the honeymoon: after marriage, after kids, after a drinking binge. His voices are note-perfect: sad, when the situation requires it; satisfied in others; rueful in some." 

~Rusty Barnes, editor of Night Train

"Our 20s have become life's honeymoon--a decade of sex and booze and fantasy, 'while the world drowns/ in things we can't afford.' After the Honeymoon delivers what all poetry should: a new understanding to take away, with moments of laughter and astonishment along the way."

~Timothy Green, editor of Rattle

"Forthright and unflinching, After the Honeymoon is a gem--one that elegantly and unapologetically conveys its gritty subject matter. You'll marvel at Graziano's sentences: the words he chooses, where he puts them, and the indelible marks they leave."

~Jason Jordan, editor-in-cheif of decomP 

"These poems don't back down, and though they are fiercely rooted in the particulars, the details of autobiography, they consistently shine beyond the personal onto something more urgent and shared."

~Matthew Guenette, author of Sudden Anthem