“Capista’s choice to write about unglamorous aspects of his life is consistently surprising and offers multiple opportunities for readers to connect with his poems’ narratives and the philosophical predicaments he uses those narratives to explore…[t]he book is powerful in the humility it strikes as it bears witness to the often underwhelming and still splendid life of an artist. I see myself everywhere in its breath.”
“Capista doesn’t shy away from the joys of rollicking through language’s innate richness of sound and meter. In his debut collection … little gems of insight and deep reflection [sparkle] throughout. [Capista] has the ability to see beauty in all places, and through his keen observations, he allows us to see this beauty, too."
“Capista has his hand on all aspects of this art. His craft is impeccable, often witty, and always refreshing…[t]he poet expresses essential goodness in daily acts, and takes on this art to prove it to us. This is a reward for the writer and the reader.”
— Washington Independent Review of Books
“The poems in Intrusive Beauty are both intrusive and beautiful, confronting the reader with a beauty and violence that the book both questions and inhabits. … Capista’s work is indeed and oral and aural pleasure.”
There is a symmetry of language along with the compassion of ministry in Joseph J. Capista’s debut collection, Intrusive Beauty…Capista is a skilled poet.
Beauty, whether intrusive or not, is a theme that runs through this book…it’s about the search for beauty and the need to bring a greater amount of beauty to the words before us.