New York City's DNA infuses Anita Pulier's newest collection of poems. Leaving Brooklyn is a delightful amalgam of memoir and celebration, a paean not just to Brooklyn, but to New York City replete with concrete evocations of places and experiences within the city's domain, celebrating beloved family members and traditions. Pulier's migration out of Brooklyn dovetails with the immigrant experience of the previous generation and the inevitable challenges of leaving home, starting a family, establishing a career and dealing with old age, death and loss. The collection offers a brave, no-nonsense acceptance of a life without the safety net of faith. As a secular Jew, Pulier sees her blessings as those of unconditional love for family, tribe, city, poetry, and the natural world- all sanctified by ephemeral and unpredictable luck. Pulier's salvation, is art, "...which can shine / a light on and celebrate imperfection."

-Elaine Alarcon-Totten, Pushcart Prize nominee, winner of the Woody Barlow Poetry Prize

Leaving Brooklyn is a panorama of images and emotions that will touch your heart and stir your soul. From Ellis Island to a Brooklyn stoop, from Central Park to the Garden of Eden, from Thanksgiving dinner to a Passover feast, Anita's stories and scenes reflect the joys, journeys, concerns and quandaries of everyday life. Don't miss the trip!

-Jayne Jaudon Ferrer, author and editor of YourDailyPoem.com