Heaven and Earth

Irreverent, esoteric, bordering on gory, Albert Goldbarth has assembled an ambitious collection of poetry that takes the reader from the physiological bases of life to the cosmic mysteries of the heavens. He proves himself a master not only of subtle visual and emotional imagery (“The History of Buttons,” “The Niggling Mystery”), but also humor, evidenced by a “Letter” to Thoreau inspired by a Harper’s Index entry noting that the long-deceased Transcendentalist “received” 90 direct-mail pitches in 1988. Fearless consumers of verse will derive the most pleasure from this splendid compilation, which earned the 1991 National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry.