Moonman (New and Selected Poems) the magnificent collection of poetry by Clifton Snider further cements his greatness in the modern literary canon. Excerpts from his nine published volumes of poetry are supplemented by new and uncollected work. This is truly an amazing book. I can think of no other poet, living or dead, with the emotional and technical range of Snider. Whether he’s drawing a character in verse, lamenting the death of his dear cat, talking about the war in the Gulf, he treats each subject with a profound respect and a depth of feeling that one only finds in the greatest writers. I continue to be astonished by the lasting quality of his work. His poems have a perfection to them; as if nothing more could be added or subtracted without disturbing the equilibrium. They are done, and they are perfect. It’s remarkable to me that Snider is not more famous, that his work has not been featured in our largest literary journals nor has it won major awards. This says very little about the quality of Snider’s poetry and everything about the current gatekeepers of our literary canon. Where is Snider’s Pulitzer? Or better, his Nobel Prize? You think this is hollow praise? Clearly you have not read him.