<div><p>"There is a sense of quiet amazement at the core of all Kooser's work."?<I>The Washington Post</I></p><p>?Readers [of <I>Splitting an Order</I>] will find ?characters’ both strange and wonderful, animal or human. There is a sense that time is passing quickly and that everything worthy must be captured and savored, from an old couple lovingly sharing a sandwich to another sowing seed potatoes to a tribute to an old dog who waits as age and winter approach? Master of the single-metaphor poem, Kooser offers images that evolve, fluid and unforced.”?<I>Library Journal,</I> starred review<p></p><p>"Kooser's ability to discover the smallest detail and render it remarkable is a rare gift."?<I>Bloomsbury Review</I></p><p>Pulitzer Prize winner and best selling poet Ted Kooser calls attention to the intimacies of life through commonplace objects and occurrences: an elderly couple sharing a sandwich is a study in transcendent love, while a tattered packet of spinach seeds calls forth innate human potential. This long-awaited collection from the former U.S. Poet Laureate?ten years in the making?is rich with quiet and profound magnificence.</p><p><B>From "Splitting an Order":</B></p><p><I>I like to watch an old man cutting a sandwich in half<BR> ? and then to see him lift half<br>onto the extra plate that he asked the server to bring,<br>and then to wait, offering the plate to his wife<br>while she slowly unrolls her napkin and places her spoon,<BR>her knife and her fork in their proper places,<br>then smoothes the starched white napkin over her knees<BR>and meets his eyes and holds out both old hands to him.</I></p><p><B>Ted Kooser</B> is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, including <I>Delights and Shadows</I> (Copper Canyon Press), which won the Pulitzer Prize. A former US Poet Laureate, Kooser serves as editor for "American Life in Poetry," a nationally syndicated weekly newspaper column.</p><BR></div>