Updated: November 2, 2001

"The book’s a perfectly up-to-date and personal (of course) realization of that famous New York poetic value system of unpretentious everydayness taken to astral heights. … The spirit of the book is beautifully enhanced by Tabboo’s glowing New York cityscapes. They’re ‘decadent, dreamy, extravagant’ says Vincent, and they’re sweet and pretty and showbiz glitzy. …The book is an object of pleasure.” —Richard Hell, Poetry Project Newsletter

“Those who know and love the city will find these riffs and renderings happily juxtaposed.” —Publishers Weekly

“Very much in the tradition of great artist-poet collaborations of the past – Grace Hartigan and Frank O’Hara, Kenneth Koch and Larry Rivers—Pearl combines the words of New York poet Vincent Katz with romantic cityscapes of artist and drag performer Tabboo!.” —New York magazine

“Poet Vincent Katz and artist Tabboo! Collaborated to release a cohesive work that captures New York in a otherworldly, fantasy-like mood that is tinged with enough reality to make sense of it all.” —Resident

“The paintings and poems in this volume provide a wide-ranging portrait of life in urban America. … All convey a sense of tranquil beauty, perhaps because the eye is always shifted skyward, away from the scurrying masses. Vincent Katz’s poems sometimes seem to mesh perfectly with the artwork…” —The New York Times Book Review

“…a book that combines Tabboo!’s magical paintings with the poetry of Vincent Katz, son of famous Pop-inspired painter Alex Katz.” —Time Out New York

“[Tabboo!’s] paintings are simply unafraid. Popsicle sunsets are watery, sticky, and sweet…the city of Stephen Tashjian is a Nijinsky Ballet, a Schiaparelli gown, a Delmore Schwartz story. It is a world crammed with mythology…” —Collier Schorr, ArtForum

“The …feel-good flavor comes as much from its determinedly breezy innocence as from its humor.” —“Art in Review,” The New York Times