Acquainted with the Night: Insomnia Poems
This dark-hued but often beautiful anthology offers poems from many cultures.(Herbert KupferbergBoston Globe)One of the greatest pleasures for me as a poetry lover is to discover a remarkable new anthology full of unfamiliar gems and forgotten classics. Lisa Russ Spaar'sAcquainted with the Nightis exactly this sort of book -- vital, engrossing, and enlarging. Spaar's treatment of her single subject is astonishingly diverse, ranging from ancient Greek to modern Japanese. She mixes compelling poems from Russia, Italy, India, China, Sweden, France, and elsewhere with a striking selection from the English-speaking world. As she explores her dark subject, insomnia becomes a focal point for the human condition.(Dana Gioia)