"There’s no one like Patricia Smith, and her bold, necessary poems light up the American twentieth century in all its song and sorrow.” —Mark Doty

“Patricia Smith is a formidably gifted poet (‘Motown Crown’ is stunning), yet perhaps her greatest gift is her openness—my heart is made larger when I live with any of her words, if only for awhile.” —Nick Flynn

“Patricia Smith confronts memory with delight and alarm, and manages to find music in the abject and callow." —Kwame Dawes

“Smith doesn’t clog up the end of the poem with an easy, insincere moral; she just tells her story and gets offstage, which is exactly the right thing to do.” —The Stranger

“Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah is a stunning and transcendent work of art, despite, and perhaps because of, its pain. This book shines.” —Sapphire

“Smith is a powerhouse poet. Her poems are as tightly constructed as masonry, yet they are quick-footed, spinning, singing, funny, and heartbreaking.” —Booklist

“First of all, wow. This book is a treasure.” —California Journal of Women Writers

“[Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah] effortlessly moves between forms and regions.” —Flavorwire

“A whole-cloth remembrance, lament, and celebration that is not to be missed.” —Coldfront

“In her current incarnation, we find one of the most authentic voice of Modern American Poetry.” —PANK

“Smith compresses culture ’til it peals like crystal—like singing light.” —Brooklyn Rail

“Smith’s rhythms create a life-breath almost as potent as Motown’s beat itself. . . . [her] fresh diction is surprising enough to be almost a new language.” —Rattle