“A propulsive verbal tour de force.... A hymn to destruction that exposes our country’s betrayal of the American Dream in the years following World War II. [Robertson] places Walker’s world on a continuum of postwar abusive power that still resonates today, while also reminding the reader of older instances of displacement such as the Trail of Tears and Scotland’s Sutherland clearances. The Long Take conveys dignity upon its less than noble characters because they’ve been dispossessed by outside forces.... When was the last time you said of a book of poetry, ‘I couldn’t put it down?’ Well, now’s your chance.” (Sibbie O’Sullivan, The Washington Post)

“A remarkable work.... I can’t think of anything quite like it.... Modern, complex, political...[Robertson’s] language is functional and often exquisite.... Though rooted in a specific time and place, The Long Take’s larger theme is the capacity of greed and politics to turn hope into despair.... A poem that’s long been waiting to be written.” (Woody Haut, Los Angeles Review of Books)

“Robertson has cast a national, cultural, psychological and class outsider of vibrant and seedy post-war America into a palpable anti-hero eerily resonant with our contemporary world. With syncopated rhythms, staccato dialogue and jump-scenes, the book weaves dizzying, jazz-like meditations on PTSD, masculinity, betrayal and salvation by embodying, in sound, scent and sixth-sense, one of America’s most hopeful and devastating decades. The result is a ravishing achievement.” (Ocean Vuong)