Poetry. Italian-American. Sexual Abuse. "Peter Covino's first book is spacious, wonderfully unpredictable, and insistent on ambition and scope. CUT OFF THE EARS OF WINTER is not simply an autobiography but a poetic autobiography. It moves from the confessional--stories of the body and the family--to stories of the mind, art, and history. Especially compelling is the way in which the intimate biographies of flesh and family are entwined with and inextricable from matters of art and history... Restless, worldly, intelligent, and beautiful, CUT OFF THE EARS OF WINTER is an utterly original first work"--Lynn Emanuel.