Salisbury's debut collection has been a long time coming, and that is proven by the distillation of decades of wives, dogs, tattoos, and divorces. This is a tight collection of realistic poetic portraits composing an arching narrative that takes the reader from the fingerless factory workers of Orrington, Maine to the showgirls of Las Vegas to the bars of San Diego. Writing in a voice that scrutinizes and celebrates the messy intricacies of middle class drudgery and everyday sacrifice, Salisbury crafts meditative work by turns humorous and humbling in the tradition of Levine and Gilbert. ( )