The Cheer

This is William Meredith's first full-length collection of new lyrics since THE WRECK OF THE THRESHER in 1964. Here, in poen after poem, he displays the artistry and the deep commitment to life that is the hallmark of his work and that reviewers of his last book, HAZARD, THE PAINTER, noted with special joy: "Reading William Meredith makes me want to dance on the ceiling" (William Maxwell), "One feels that every word that should be there is and that no extra words have been allowed" (Los Angeles Times), "His Language is often as lean as Lowell's and as rhythmically adrroit as Berryman's" (The Bew York Times Book Review); "Everywhere Meredith's tact id bust disguising his famous skill" (The Hudson Review).