Ted Kooser must be the most accessible and enjoyable major poet in
America. His lines are so clear and simple. --Michael Dirda, The
Washington Post
Readers [of Splitting an Order] will find 'characters' both strange
and wonderful, animal or human. There is a sense that time is passing
quickly and that everything worthy must be captured and savored.
--Library Journal, starred review
Kooser's ability to discover the smallest detail and render it
remarkable is a rare gift. --Bloomsbury Review
Hailed by Library Journal as a master of the single-metaphor poem,
Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling poet Ted Kooser calls attention to
the intimacies of life through commonplace objects and occurrences. This
collection--ten years in the making--is rich with quiet and profound
magnificence.
I like to watch an old man cutting a sandwich in half
. . . and then to see him lift half
onto the extra plate that he asked the server to bring,
and then to wait, offering the plate to his wife
while she slowly unrolls her napkin and places her spoon,
her knife and her fork in their proper places,
then smoothes the starched white napkin over her knees
and meets his eyes and holds out both old hands to him.
Ted Kooser is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose,
including Delights and Shadows (Copper Canyon), which won the Pulitzer
Prize. A former US Poet Laureate, Kooser serves as editor for American
Life in Poetry, a nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column.
