The poems in Inside Job range from intensely autobiographical lyrics to brief historical portraits of literary figures like Grace Paley and Jorge Luis Borges, to obituaries of idiosyncratic characters such as heavyweight boxing contenders and inventors of candy bars. The tone is often wry, sometimes wistful, and always compassionate. Praise for John Skoyles: "For poems so full of linguistic playfulness, there is a surprising accuracy of perception." —The Georgia Review "Wise, benevolent, witty." —Northwest Review "Skoyles scrapes at the surface of everyday things and finds a wonderful strangeness just underneath." —Harvard Review