"Brock Guthrie’s first book, Contemplative Man is, by turns, blunt and evocative . . . a look at life from the perspective of a man who has lived roughly and taken his lumps, but is trying to make good." READ MORE
-Charlie Bondhus, The Good Men Project
"In an age where the worst crime a white male poet can commit is to write poetry about being white and male, Contemplative Man bravely asks its audience to approach the book on its own terms. Guthrie folds the quotidian into origami cranes, the wisdom in each poem scribbled on the extremities of each wing, and the speaker, an extension of the poet himself, critiques hyper-masculinity by simultaneously embracing it. The result: a book of poems containing the most tender, magical “broments,” enveloped in the hyperbolic uncertainty of a generation of men who wear their emotions on their rolled up sleeves. Contemplative Man begs for more than one read and more importantly, deserves one."
-Peter Twal, Notre Dame Review
"Evident from this first collection is Guthrie’s agonizing consideration of poet and audience—not just his personal audience, but the roles of contemporary poets and poetry. Guthrie authentically writes to his own identity and writes with his blue-collar Ohio readers in mind." READ MORE
-Vincent Cellucci, So and So Magazine