Clifton Snider's
Career Retrospective,

Moonman:
New and Selected Poems


is available from World Parade Books
and from Amazon.com

Moonman: New and Selected Poems reached as high as
number 7 on Amazon.com's Hot New Releases and
is at the top of the Small Press Review's
July-August 2012 picks.

Clifton Snider has been called "one of America's best contemporary poets" (Eva Von Kesselhausen, Small Press Review), and Charles Plymell, of Cherry Valley Editions, has called him "a great poet" (letter to Clifton Snider, 2 April 2001).

Some comments about Moonman from the critics:

World Parade Books’ release of Moonman: New and Selected Poems may at long last bring Snider the wider visibility he deserves. . . . Organized chronologically, Moonman traces Snider’s fluid movement from one idiom to another: restrained poems in traditional forms; intellectual utterances that demonstrate his awareness of Western and Eastern philosophical systems; chatty, casual poems that respond to aspects of popular culture; and, most impressively, concise and memorable imagist verse. . . . [In Edwin: A Character in Poems] the persona functions as an effective objective correlative whose dual obsessions with thought and body echo a whole generation of gay men. . . . [Other poems] are lit with a delirious, visionary glow.

--Tony Leuzzi, in Lambda Literary.  Leuzzi is the author of Radiant Losses and Passwords Primeval, a collection his interviews with twenty American poets.


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.

--Andrew Demcak, Author of the poetry collections, Night Chant, A Single Hurt Color, Zero Summer, Catching Tigers in Red Weather, and the novel, If There's A Heaven Above 

In Moonman: New and Selected Poems, Clifton Snider shares both the grace and horror that resides within the intimate details of his life.  His poetry illustrates his hard-won memories and well-fought battles that may have been lost, but were not abandoned. Snider's manner of writing is raw and vulnerable, yet elegant in a way that is harshly satisfying.  Moonman presents both the salvation and turmoil wrought by Snider's confrontations with religion, sexuality, family, and sobriety. . . . Snider writes as if devulging his secrets to a lifelong friend who may either embrace him or abandon him.  Snider braves this uncertain outcome because bearing his blemished heart is the duty of the poet.

--Meghan Perkins, in Small Press Review
   
Moonman is a gentle giant, a career-spanning collection of necessary poetry that is meditative and healing. Snider, a master observer, offers us poems on the natural world, social and cultural climate, love, loss, illness, and death. Through it all, his voice serves as spirit guide—examining human experience, he takes us on a journey of both great pain and joy, while reminding us there is celebration in living.

--Eric Morago in Poetix
    
Moonman: New and Selected Poems "encompasses just about every poem ever written by one of the most magnificent and prolific poets of our time, Clifton Snider’s Moonman: New and Selected Poems takes you on a journey through life with a . . . unique style that unfolds and refolds, disintegrates and rematerializes before your eyes.  In this career long collection one finds an evolution of a man, that thanks to World Parade Books, can be read all in one easy handheld volume. . . . [Snider's] work is vivid and bright, even when addressing the not so shiny parts."

--Cadence Collective

Clifton Snider's Moonman: New and Selected Poems is a very engaging collection of poetry that details gay life, the American Southwest,  Scandinavia and and other parts of northern Europe (such as Germany and Holland), American literature (such as Billy Budd), non-Western religion and a host of other subjects. Readers will delight in Clifton's use of precise verbs, the timing of his phrases and his descriptive powers. Even more impressive are the moving endings of many of his poems. His poems about family fall into this category. "Sonnet for My Mother," "My Father's Hands" and the poem "Holocaust"--written about a distant Norwegian cousin--are poignant because of their subject matter, their tone and their insights. [World] Parade Books should be proud to have published this volume. 

--Austin Alexis, Author of Lovers and Drag Queens and For Lincoln and Other Poems          

I've known Snider's work for 40 years now and he's still at the top of his game. This massive retrospective is a great introduction to the work of a man who shoots straight, first, last and always.

--John Yamrus, Author of They Never Told Me This Would Happen and Can't Stop Now!        

Here is an impressive collection of personal poetry, a retrospective of the author's life from the 1970's to 2010. Snider's work, both earlier and recent, bares an open heart and keen eye for vivid imagery and careful observation. The book is filled with sparkling close-ups on people ("Six Weeks"), locations ("El Nino"), politics ("You Tell Me") and mantras. His numerous love poems are a mature mix of sex and spiritual awakening, like in the title piece "Moonman", with "two lovers at a drive-in movie "and a prayer plant whose spotted leaves "open for the muted light of day" and close together "for the cool light of the moon." In this generous soul-venture, Snider invites everyone along for the deep ride.

--Davida Singer, Author of Shelter Island and Port of Call

Sarah Miller hosts a reading in an art studio (Exhibit [A], 555 Pine Ave., Long Beach, CA) and we were surrounded by paintings as we listened to Clifton Snider read from his new book, Moonman from World Parade Books [on 10 August 2012].

Was there ever a point in your life when you enjoyed a poem? If the answer is yes, read his book.  He is one of the best poets I've known in real life. And if you don't like poetry because it's esoteric and downright weird, read his book. It's accessible and powerful. You'll love it.

--John Brantingham, anthor of East of Los Angeles (poems) and Mann of War (fiction), in his blog, John Brantingham: A Mystery Writer's Quest to Master Small Press Promotion

Visit Clifton Snider's Facebook page and friend him and like his page on Moonman.

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Page last revised: 22 April 2016