Say Goodnight

In this third collection of poems, Timothy Liu has extended his already considerable range in meticulous poems that are sometimes shocking, sometimes consoling, but consistently vivid in imagery and consequence. Marilyn Hacker has noted that Liu's "Eros is agape also", and in Say Goodnight, his spirit of generosity once again shines through his subjects like an eternal light through the transparency of a world most people take for granted. From Ku Klux Klan murders to Rodin's sculptures, from the third century Chinese poet Lu Chi to a modern-day gay bashing, Liu greets savagery and beauty alike -- with tender intelligence, a wise eye for revealing detail, and a disciplined ear tuned to the line.