As one of Robert Frost's last students, Philip Booth has for more than four decades written poems prized for their clarity and depth. As founder of the Syracuse University Creative Writing Program, he has been a crucial influence in the early stages of such individually distinguished poets as Thomas Centolella, Stephen Dunn, Carol Frost, Brooks Haxton, Larry Levis, Jane Mead, Jay Meek, Susan Mitchel, Barbara Moore, and Lucia Perillo. The New York Times Book Review has said that "anyone who cares about poetry knows his work."
Gathering together selections from his notebooks,...