A strong dose of Bukowski, Breaking Bad, and brilliance. Intense and gripping, with splashes of outlandish humor, it is a full frontal assault on the challenges of modern life for outsiders. As award-winning poet Mark Bibbins raves, "Thomas Fucaloro is here and he is showing you his big messy heart. (Actually, if you’re looking for other body parts, you’ll find most of them in this book.). Poet Corrina Bain (louderARTS project) applauds the work: "It Starts from the Belly and Blooms dives facefirst into the glory and wildness of life, combining fearless authenticity, humor, and a gut-punching ear for images. All the reader can do is hope that Fucaloro be accorded what he deserves: a lasting mark on the face of American poetics." Thomas Fucaloro is an NYC poet and editor for Great Weather for Media. His first book, Inheriting Craziness is Like a Soft Halo of Light was released on Three Rooms Press in 2010 to rave reviews.  He has been on two National Slam Teams and is currently an MFA student in creative writing at the New School.

"Thomas Fucaloro is here and he is showing you his big messy heart. (Actually, if you’re looking for other body parts, you’ll find most of them in this book.) “Love is a napkin,” he says, and I’m pretty sure that’s what it’s going to take. His poems are “angry and emotional and irrational / just like the cops”—but in the end, like the rest of us, the guy’s just trying to get some napkin. Let’s give him some napkin."
—Mark Bibbins, winner of Lambda Literary Award, Sky Lounge

"It Starts from the Belly and Blooms dives facefirst into the glory and wildness of life, combining fearless authenticity, humor, and a gut-punching ear for images. All the reader can do is hope that Fucaloro be accorded what he deserves: a lasting mark on the face of American poetics."
—Corrina Bain, Writer-Performer, Staff at the louderARTS Project