A flawed romantic with a predilection it seems for self destruction, Sean King's words have a hint of Bukowski, more than a tipple of Algren, maybe even a little Crews but unlike so many pretenders to the throne, King isn't trying to be anyone but himself. And though he tries to come across as hardboiled, as tough and mean, a singular man who needs no one but himself, his vulnerability still shines through, the belief that it can get better, that things can improve, this belief hovers underneath the words, sometimes barely heard, barely seen but it is there none the less. You just have to know where to look.