Paperwork (Paperback)

David J. Citino's Paperwork is a collection of previously published essays, pieces of memoir, and poetry set within the borders of Ohio. A native of Cleveland, Citino has lived in Ohio all his life. Although many of the pieces are rooted firmly in Ohio soil, concrete, and stone and are watered by Ohio's creeks, rivers, and great lake, Citino's concerns range far beyond Ohio's borders. Indeed, he moves through the counties and precincts of this country, as well as into Italy and Ireland, even deep beyond the present and into the past. These are accessible and revealing glimpses into the mind of a working writer who wants nothing less than to come to terms with a sense of place and to inquire into the ways we can fuel the urgent need to write. Citino's prose casts light on his poetry, and his poetry helps the reader understand his prose. The whole becomes a meditation on thirty years of serious writing and reading by someone very much the product of his environment. Citino's work attempts to show the impact and relevance that poetry and prose can have on an individual and makes a case for poetry from his own perspective.