Noah Burton is a rare contemporary male American writer who possesses a sense of humor, a flair for the absurd, and a marvelous poignancy without being a whiney dick. Get this book if you want to be entertained and enlightened by a smooth professional."When the poetry gloom lies heavy upon my head, I have only to remember that these poems are in the world, & for a moment then my life is made whole. Originality of imagination is the rarest of gifts, but Noah Burton makes it looks effortless--his poems remind us of how vulnerable & funny & wondrous & sad & beautifully strange our lives really are. There is a gigantic composure breathing within even the most antic of his lines. His inventions restore me, down to the deepest parts of my heart. I know of no poet under the age of thirty who comes close to what he can do. Silver shadow!"--David RivardCover art by Patrick Yagow