Up Jump the Boogie (Reissue)

“The feel of now lives in John Murillo’s UP JUMP THE BOOGIE, but it’s tempered by bows to the tradition of soulful music and oral poetry. The lived dimensions embodied in this collection say that here’s an earned street knowledge and a measured intellectual inquiry that dare to live side by side, in one unique voice. The pages of UP JUMP THE BOOGIE breathe and sing; the tributes and cultural nods are heartfelt, and in these honest poems no one gets off the hook.”—Yusef Komunyakaa

“In this first collection, John Murillo commits to the page a dazzling display of artistry, word-magic, and ‘skybound’ emotion. Even if you didn’t grow up on the same block as John, my guess is that you’ll still feel a kind of nostalgia that arises from really well-written poetry. Dear reader, hold this book in your hands like a steering wheel and keep your eyes on the road.” —Kimiko Hahn

“John Murillo [is] a young West Coast urban poet with fantastic energy, imagination, and elan. His first book, Up Jump the Boogie, is by turns philosophical and wildly unpredictable but always charged and authentic.” —Philip Levine in Kirkus Review