John Berger once said "We only see what we look at. To look is an act of choice." And Miles Davis quipped: "Don't play what's there, play what's not there." What we have in Christopher Soden's wonder filled Tempting God is, as the title suggests, an intense questioning of the everyday we live and also the invisible mystery behind it. The struggle is one of identity and relationships, and often one seems "like a thrush caught blindly / banging in an endless black flue." Counterpointing intimacy and memory, this masterful book forges a solution in moments "of intersection, {where} the earth / was a glad and remarkable / home, swaddling me / in the promise of miracles / within reach." It is the God within us that Christopher comes to realize, and that the temptation is to create and preserve one's identity-something we can all learn from this book. -Richard Jackson, Author of The Heart as Framed: New and Select Poems "The speaker in these splendid poems is beguiling, weary, and an astute observer of others, of the world. Hatred and confusion give away to fleeting intimacies and to the grace of miracles-another word for survival. The speaker's journey is rich with fleshy, pungent moments, pop culture, and the shifting bonds between men. Soden is a wonderful poet and this book is a marvel." -Eduardo Corral