standing around the heart
university of arkansas press (february 2005)

Gary Fincke’s newest collection of poetry, Standing Around the Heart is grounded in memorable places and characters. In Standing Around the Heart, Fincke compels his readers to remember the voices they hear in these poems, the work his characters do, the families his characters have, and the things they believe in and strive to live up to. Fincke’s poems force their inhabitants to recognize that they must rely on themselves, and their effort to do so is what ultimately redeems them.

"This collection shows Gary Fincke at his inimitable best, careless of fads and schools, handy with a great range of subjects, but, at the core, romantic, preternaturally alert, fond of stories, and as drawn to wisdom as to comedy. Fincke writes a poetry of abiding generosity, of true feeling, and thought. His is an essential American voice."

—Rodney Jones, author of The Kingdom of the Instant

sorry i worried you
university of georgia press (october 2004)

A 2003 winner of the annual Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. In these twelve disconcerting tales, Gary Fincke reconciles lost hope and quiet despair with small blessings and ultimate redemption.

The characters in Sorry I Worried You work at strip malls, pilfer expired beer from landfills, and grapple with ill health. Within this world, as easily as one man becomes a hero, another is riddled with failure. Everyone and everything is suspicious, and only the luck of the draw determines who, if anyone, will survive.

“Gary Fincke writes wonderfully quirky, unpredictable stories full of vivid characters and unforgettable details and moments. There’s a lovely, hilariously wry sense of humor at work here, but there’s also a truly heartfelt compassion for the lives of ordinary working folks—those little failures and triumphs that make a reader gasp in both recognition and wonder. This is a remarkable collection.”

—Dan Chaon, author of Among the Missing and You Remind Me of Me

amp'd: a father's backstage pass
michigan state university press (august 2004)

In Amp’d, Gary Fincke chronicles four years in the life of his son—rock and roll guitarist Aaron—from winning MTV’s Ultimate Cover Band Battle in Strangers With Candy, to being signed as a part of Lifer (Universal/Republic Records), to joining Breaking Benjamin (Hollywood Records). Set against a backdrop of aggressive rock, frenzied fans, moshing, security brutality, and occasional outright violence, Amp’d provides a unique perspective on the bizarre and fantastical world of commercial rock.

“Amp’d is a wild ride, a father’s blow-by-blow account of his son’s sudden rise from gritty local clubs to the shark-and-groupie-infested waters of national stardom. Studded with revealing anecdotes and inside knowledge of the music business, Gary Fincke’s highly readable memoir is a unique contribution to the literature of rock and roll.”

—Tom Perrotta, author of Election, Joe College, and Little Children

writing letters for the blind
ohio state university press (august 2003)

Writing Letters for the Blind presents the reader with visions of our world and all its beauty, sordidness, joy, and disappointment. The poems in Writing Letters for the Blind begin in the coming-of-age moments that change all of us by forcing recognition of physical weakness, the power of sex, the importance of family, the presence of evil, and the prevalence of mortality. They end by bringing us to adulthood and our confrontation with the identity we acquire through both close relationships and the pressures of our appetites.

“This book is deep and wide, making use of history, science, medicine, and folklore, yet it is accessible from beginning to end, poems of significance that will have an audience.”

—David Citino, author of The Invention of Secrecy and Paperwork

the stone child
university of missouri press (august 2003)

The eleven stories in The Stone Child are about families of varying kinds, what binds them, and what threatens to tear them apart. Under pressure, the characters in these stories strive to maintain whatever connections they have with one another. In important ways, all of these stories, even those with exclusively adult characters, are coming-of-age tales, with people arriving at those points in their lives when what they do and say will mark significant passages. Gary Fincke gives us stories with beginnings that pull us right in and endings that won’t leave the world of the story until long after we have finished reading.

“Gary Fincke is one of literary America’s best-kept secrets. He is a terrific, no-nonsense writer, and The Stone Child is his best work to date. These stories quietly examine the mysteries and complications of contemporary life with seriousness and great compassion.”

—Robert Boswell, author of Crooked Hearts, Mystery Ride,
and Century’s Son

blood ties: working-class poems
time being books (february 2002)

These bracing poems examine the "blood ties" that link us all, that bind us not only to our past but also to our present and our future here on Earth, where historical events, technological breakthroughs, and ecological shifts are forever changing our lives. In Blood Ties, Gary Fincke links global incidents to working-class existence, bringing the real relevance of those happenings into sharp focus for each of us.

“I am moved by how deeply these poems engage working-class experience; the intersection between the personal and the historical; and the flawed, overlooked, and often forgotten side of our daily realm. Blood Ties memorializes the past and honors the life lived. It is a book to be remembered.”

—Edward Hirsch, author of On Love and Wild Gratitude

emergency calls
university of missouri press (august 1996)

Troubled relationships between parents and children, most of them adults or at least in their late teens, provide the framework for many of the ten stories within Emergency Calls. With vivid description and compelling dialogue, Gary Fincke pulls the reader deep into these stories and into the lives of these unforgettable characters as they try to balance the need to protect those they love with the task of making them accountable for their often self-destructive actions.

“These ten stories are little gems. Gary Fincke is a terrific writer. His situations develop fast and are immediately engaging. His characters are memorable, occasionally eccentric, always believable. He creates his effects without ever appearing to try very hard.”

—Steve Yarbrough, author of Visible Spirits and Prisoners of War

the almanac for desire
bkmk press (november 2000)

The poems in The Almanac for Desire are grounded in narrative and personal experience, and they open for readers new vistas in such areas as science, pop culture, religion, and history. Gary Fincke's working-class background growing up in an ethnic German Lutheran family in Pittsburgh forms the basis for much of this book.

“Gary Fincke continues to dive deep into our innumerable frailties and, once again, he confronts them, and transcends them, with his sure-breath rhythms and wordcraft. This is the alchemy of fine poetry, the turning of the sorrows of our mortal existence into redemptive, musical language brimming with powerful images of our world. A terrific book by a terrific poet.”

—Len Roberts, author of Black Wings and The Silent Singe

inventing angels
zoland books (april 1994)

Early surrealists theorized that unexpected juxtapositions reach directly into a shared unconscious and jar us into new realizations. In this sense, Gary Fincke's Inventing Angels is surrealist, pushing us to startling grief at death and the disappearance of work; to terror in the face of our defenselessness against ravaging dogs and inexplicable reason, and to the edge of disgust with decay. At its base, Inventing Angels is a meditation on faith, the verification of a meaningful God in the face of humanity's putrid, sinning physicality.

“The appearance of Inventing Angels is a happy occasion, for this collection of poignantly wise poems announces to the world that Gary Fincke has taken his place in the first rank of American poets of his generation.”

—David Citino, author of The Invention of Secrecy and Paperwork

for keepsies
coffee house press (october 1993)

Gary Fincke’s first collection of short stories offers a nostalgic trip through American culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Set in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area, these stories deal specifically with the concerns of the blue-collar American male. "Short Stories" takes place during a high school reunion where a friend who served in Vietnam confronts one who didn't. "Grade Nine" concerns unemployment and working on an assembly line. In "Nazi on the Phone," set at Kent State, two students try to track down a hate organization. Draft dodging, the nuclear threat, and Martin Luther King Jr. are among the major issues evoked, but the stories also vividly depict the popular culture of an era—its music, college exams, and dating scene.

“Gary Fincke finds his people in that fold of life where you are inches from your heart’s desire, years from your last good time. In some cases you have exactly what you wished for, and how frightening that can be.”

—Robert Olmstead, author of The Trail of Heart’s Blood Wherever We Go and America by Land

the double negatives of the living
zoland books (april 1992)

Built between two poems about the death of his mother, Gary Fincke’s The Double Negatives of the Living searches for and discovers a perceptive balance between the physical and the spiritual. With language grounded in the rural and industrial traditions of Central Pennsylvania, this collection explores the ways we recover from illness, pain, and loss.

"Gary Fincke doesn't flinch from what life can do to us, but, instead, he faces it head on with honesty and rhythmical work mastery. I respect him for this courage, and I admire his poetry for finding the words and rhythms to express his vision in such a fine way."

—Len Roberts, author of Black Wings and The Silent Singer