In "How to Be Drawn to Trouble", the poem features lyrics from James Brown to explore the pressures of matrimonial and familial hungers.

[2] Trevor Ketner, writing in The Rumpus, said that it "echoes the cultural critique of race relations in America" he found in Ralph Ellison's work Invisible Man.

[3] The poems are written in free verse, meaning there is no set rhyme scheme, stanza form, or metrical structure.

The diction used throughout the collection is conversational and Hayes uses word play to convey the message that he has for each of his poems, instead of drawing away using rhythm or rhyme.

[4] Poet Tess Taylor noted that "his writing is full of puns and fake outs, leads and dodges, all encased in muscular music.