Reviews of Perfect Diet

I have no idea how to convey how much I like these poems..... or why I like them so much..... Today I reread “Memo to Hospital Maintenance”..... There's this one line “a world that does not know that he is almost gone” hidden in the poem, like the empty soda can.... juxtaposing the huge loss with all the trivial and mundane stuff..... and the juxtaposition of the cool cognitive “I would argue” with the heart-wrenching loss..... I've read "Letter to Mr. Darwin" several times.... again there's something about the sadness at all the loss... and the type of humor.... I really have no idea what makes the poems work so well... It's mysterious to me.... They are so intimate..... as if we were having a private conversation, but in a crowded room.... and looking at “Dateline” again.... since it's next to “Letter to”.... I too have wondered about how this time change stuff works.... but I love how you say “maliciously counting”.... and of course “allotted” is like the hidden coke bottle..... really you're talking about our mortality I think....

—"Psychologist"

As someone who is always searching for new poets, I am very pleased to discover Anita Pulier's Perfect Diet. While there is much humor throughout, I found her poetry to be searing, deeply moving and, to my surprise, suddenly wrapping itself around my heart. Pulier's poetry twists and turns with the enormity of New York's energy while, at the same time, capturing penetrating and intimate moments. Personal, clever, wry and intelligent—truly worth the read.

—S. Macht

We are lying in bed
Cozy and warm
Relentless rain tapping on a roof
Dripping down windows
In Otis in September
A month that used to spell beginnings.

I read Anita's poems one by one
Aloud as Harvey smiles and we both find pleasure,
Satisfaction in the quirky phrases
And the unfinished thoughts.

The Chapbook is brilliant
Bloody knuckles, bustling firemen,
A soaring eagle
What more could you want...
Oh, and Myron's surely had a hand in all this,
If only the funky snake and apple,
And the gorgeous author on the back cover.

—Dr. Rita Bigel-Casher