"You can't say enough about Bill Gainer's poetry. He is a keen observer armed for gentle combat with words and how they shine the light on our sense of being. A True Story is a powerful gathering destined for many readers."

Neeli Cherkovski, author of Elegy for My Beat Generation

"Bill Gainer's latest book, A True Story is wonderfully multi-faceted; ranging from self-deprecation, to slice o' life insightfulness, to anecdotal, and raw honesty. The reader should remember that all this is the measure of a fully realized man - all fang and claw, and heart and soul."

RD Armstrong, Publisher Lummox Press

"I'm a longtime fan of Bill Gainer (as a human being and a poet) and this collection of his work is a most welcome antidote to these troublesome days that have found us. For me, Bill's poetry is a kind of literary comfort food, as I always know he will bring the goods. His writing rarely fails to expose the heart of the human condition with his unique mixture of humor, melancholy, and profundity. His poems are filled with laughter and sighs. Bill mines both the complex and simple stuff of everyday life and never fails to come up with gold."

William Taylor Jr., author of Pretty Things to Say

"Bill Gainer has his own magic. Sometimes his poems are like fireflies, quick shots in the dark, sometimes they are as bright as muzzle blasts from a pistol in an alley. Sometimes they are like lightning strikes in the middle of the night. What they have in common is a sense of the noir. His abbreviated style is very engaging. But he has a much wider range as well. He can be insightful and compassionate and able to look deeply into the heart of the matter. With this book you'll encounter the entire range of his unique style."

D.R. Wagner, poet, musician, visual artist

"This is a true story; the poetry of Bill Gainer captures scenes from a lifetime as a poet in crisp, clear images. Gainer is a master of the short poem with the ability to say a lot, to tell a story, with brevity and clarity. The language is matter-of-fact, nothing is obscure here, and still Gainer always finds the music of the spoken word, the beauty of the way people speak and react, the way people love and feel. A True Story, by Bill Gainer, is a collection of polished gems, short poems from across a long and admirable career."

James Lee Jobe, Poet Laureate, Davis, CA