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Happy Hour

"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

56 pages | 5-1/4 x 8-1/2 | © 1987

Phoenix Poets

Poetry

Table of Contents

Happy Hour
Genie
Walkman
Homage
Lace Fern
Scattered Places
Familiar Story
Vine
Blue Vase
Neighbors
The Riddle
Bedtime Story
Other Hands
Ready or Not
A Christmas Story
Otter Island
Rickshaw
Extra
Mortmain
Astronomy Lesson

Awards

Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund: Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers' Awards
Won

Poetry Society of America: William Carlos Williams Award
Won

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