Review of Lost Positives

Village VoiceBest of NYC 2005

Best Under-the-Radar Local Literary Debut – JOHN COTRONA

Lost Positives comes from JOHN COTRONA, a Bronx Bukowski whose wisecracking narrators buzz with grudges but at least know that the secret to playing bass is leaving out notes. Buy his serenely corrosive collection (priced at $5) for the noir-punk ambience, the cover's Black Sparrow tactility, the periodic limpid American beauties: "For most of a thirteen hundred mile train ride, I had been working on a line: 'I have come to ask your forgiveness.' "And also for this hilarious boner description: "I was as stiff as Connecticut jazz." –Ed Park

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