George Slobodzian is … an unillusioned materialist, … pungent, funny, and visceral…. Slobodzian exuberantly affirms “this wretched world.” Overhearing teens filling out a Cosmopolitan questionnaire, he realizes that “love must be / a stalwart beast / to haul such crap / and remain intact.” Graphic, profane, and caustic, Clinical Studies … is in fact a tender book, children, parents, extended relations, and lovers filling its pages with their heat.” — Andre Furlani, Canadian Literature, 2004