Rough Day

July 1, 2013

In tough-edged, hardscrabble, but rich, gleaming language, Skoog (Mister Skylight) delivers a picaresque that takes readers across the American landscape, far from the upscale confines of East Coast-West Coast cities. "This is a good knot for holding a horse/ and this is the desert's smell after a good rain," he observes in one poem that contemplates mortality--his and that of entire species. Elsewhere, "grizzled countenance of morning// leers in the apartment's slotted blind," "skateboarders [are] propelled by car mirror," "snowdrifts surrender broken branches," and "the stoned guy from the first floor// enunciates the broadcast in sterling," as Skoog pulls us into all sorts of unexpected but fully rendered settings. (Occasionally, there's an overload of detail.) Throughout, Skoog affectingly captures the feel of an unpolished, sometimes down-and-out America, but his poems aren't just (un)pretty pictures; he's here to contemplate connectedness and meaning, the relentless lure of history and the unshakable power of books. If he makes the world seem very, very real, he can also turn beautifully meditative, caught in his "sudden willed loner's mute drama." VERDICT This Lannan Literary Selection is recommended for most readers, especially those interested in visiting a larger America.--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

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