Within his deliberately narrowed range Mr. Shapiro has cultivated a new
generosity of detail and insight. This is especially important in the
longer poems here, narratives of considerable power. They may seem more
like versified short stories than poems, but their skill and force are
moving.--J. D. McClatchy, New York Times Book Review
Happy Hour is one of the best collections I have recently read. Mr.
Shapiro writes with apparently equal ease in free verse and more nearly
traditional forms, and he brings his formidable technical skills to bear
upon matters of great urgency: our need to love and be loved, and the
often perverse ways in which we maintain our connections to those
closest to us.--Henry Taylor, Washington Times
This is a haunting, mature collection that should attract a larger
audience for Shapiro's fine poems.--Thomas Swiss, Chicago Tribune