“Walking the line between modern confessional and a reinvention of the pastoral, John Casteen’s poems speak to the need of fully living the one life he’s been given.”— The Rumpus [Free Union]
“The wisdom in Casteen’s work isn’t limited to mountaintop reflections. Elsewhere, he is restrained, but with an underlying combustibility…The calm language is rife with violence between the lines, anger on a hot night.” — C-Ville Weekly [For the Mountain Laurel]
“John Casteen may have a minor audience problem, in that people who like poetry may not think they like poems about hunting, woodworking and fairly stoic and silent father-son relationships, while stoic hunters and silent woodworkers may not think they like poetry. But both kinds of readers will find pleasure here” — Mobile Press-Register [Free Union]