Moonman: New and Selected Poems

by Clifton Snider

A career-spanning retrospective of the work of one of Long Beach's most accomplished and enduring poets, " New and Selected Poems," once again establishes Clifton Snider as Southern California's answer to W.H. Auden. A beautiful, stunningly impressive book.

476 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2012

About the author

Clifton Mark Snider is an American poet, novelist, literary critic, scholar, and educator. He has a B.A. and an M.A. from California State University, Long Beach, and a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico. He has taught at various institutions of higher education in southern California, primarily at Long Beach City College and at California State University, Long Beach.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moonman (New and Selected Poems) the magnificent collection of poetry by Clifton Snider further cements his greatness in the modern literary canon. Excerpts from his nine published volumes of poetry are supplemented by new and uncollected work. This is truly an amazing book. I can think of no other poet, living or dead, with the emotional and technical range of Snider. Whether he’s drawing a character in verse, lamenting the death of his dear cat, talking about the war in the Gulf, he treats each subject with a profound respect and a depth of feeling that one only finds in the greatest writers. I continue to be astonished by the lasting quality of his work. His poems have a perfection to them; as if nothing more could be added or subtracted without disturbing the equilibrium. They are done, and they are perfect. It’s remarkable to me that Snider is not more famous, that his work has not been featured in our largest literary journals nor has it won major awards. This says very little about the quality of Snider’s poetry and everything about the current gatekeepers of our literary canon. Where is Snider’s Pulitzer? Or better, his Nobel Prize? You think this is hollow praise? Clearly you have not read him.

[Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clifton Snider's Moonman: New and Selected Poems is a very engaging collection of poetry that details gay life, the American Southwest, Scandinavia and and other parts of northern Europe (such as Germany and Holland), American literature (such as Billy Budd), non-Western religion and a host of other subjects. Readers will delight in Clifton's use of precise verbs, the timing of his phrases and his descriptive powers. Even more impressive are the moving endings of many of his poems. His poems about family fall into this category. "Sonnet for My Mother, "My Father's Hands" and the poem "Holocaust"--written about a distant Norwegian cousin--are poignant because of their subject matter, their tone and their insights. New Parade Books should be proud to have published this volume.