In "The Brink," Peter Sears offers us a different view of ourselves, our aspirations, and our foibles as human beings. In comfortably accessible language, one poem might make you laugh, another might run a chill right through you, and a third may demand both reactions at once. Each poem is wonderfully surprising and stands on its own, but also, in context, offers illumination to its neighbors.

Mr. Sears is a fine poet. His observations are rendered in a voice that is playful, powerful, and dark, all at the same time. He skillfully wields our language as a caress, a cudgel, a razor, and a lance.

"The Brink" is a remarkable accomplishment.

Read this book even if after high school you swore you'd never read a line of poetry again. Each poem in THE BRINK will remind you of what poetry should really be about: the moving, funny, enraging, seductive, delightful, frustrating, humble, bizarre, lonely, love-filled moments of life. Sears' seamless and tight poems (filled with music, cadence and wonderful vernacular) span over a vast range of subject matter, and a vast range of emotions. You'll laugh, gasp, be surprised and moved. You'll be amazed at the universality of Sears' work. This is a poet of open, honest, intelligent and witty generosity, and when you close this book, you'll immediately want to read it again. I loved the monologues of the very old,the tender love poems, the very funny poem about a clumsy, loud male revisiting his old pals in a bar, the poem about dead people revisiting their village, about shoveling snow while it's still snowing; being stuck in a traffic jam, or about identifying with an old and lonely white bear in a zoo. And much, much more. This book won the Peregrine Smith Prize, and should win many more. It certainly won the best poetry book of the year for me.

A friend lent me this book about 6 years ago and it changed the way I thought about poetry. I had never read any free verse before, and instead of being difficult and vague, the poetry was engaging, funny, colorful and descriptive. I couldn't believe that people my age were writing these poems. That summer my journal was full of poems describing my experiences while travelling in south america. I treasure these for the images they portray.

I liked the book because the poems are commented on, which helped me to learn what makes a poem outstanding. Since that summer I have always written poetry and it's a real joy, an artform that provides joy in expression.

Even if you don't want to write poetry, this book is full of poems that will make you want to sing. Memorable ones that you will think of a long time later.

One starts:

Hey girl hipswaying swirl of colored cloth...

and continues in syllables that roll off the tongue.

Enjoy!!

Meticulous scholarship, but the text remains readable and interesting to the rest of us. Produced by leading experts, skillfully edited by Peter Barnet, the text is as exquisitely done as an ivory carving itself. The book is generously illustrated throughout with many photographs of the ivories. This book belongs in your collection if you admire fine art and craftsmanship from the medeival period.