His book is every bit as good as I hoped it would be. McAuliffe's got the gift. Mark the name. His sure hand is apparent in every line: syntax and pulse in the service of experience. This poet's sense of shape and design provides structures that highlight his felicities of movement, texture and observation. No cheap flourishes, no ingratiating mannerisms, just the real stuff, hard-won, handsomely brought off. This guy's the total package, as we say over here about our young, star athletes.   
                                                                               — August Kleinzahler

The world of John McAuliffe's first book is surprisingly populous, even social. Many of the poems are grounded in speech and conversation and see 'different things in the same light'. He is consistently alert to that moment when one thing changes into another or clarifies into unexpected meaning.