Reviews of Tug

“Tug is a brilliant first collection, an assuring reminder that not all our younger poets have abandoned the Ellingtonian mastery of many voices.” —Washington Post Book World

“Patterson’s vivid, musical, witty sociologically ambitious poems are the work of a very promising new poet.” —Booklist

“Patterson reshapes the assumption that black poetry has to be politically inflamed to communicate and that the black male should speak in one uniform voice.  He uses an inventive style and a tableaux of voices to tackle a torrent of issues, and promises to be a notable new talent.” —Rain Taxi Review of Books

“A poet worth watching: empathetic, gregarious, formally spirited.” —Kirkus Reviews