Kindest Regards - by Ted Kooser

Book Synopsis

Four decades of poetry―and a generous selection of new work―make up this extraordinary collection by Pulitzer Prize winner Ted Kooser. Firmly rooted in the landscapes of the Midwest, Kooser's poetry succeeds in finding the emotional resonances within the ordinary. Kooser's language of quiet intensity trains itself on the intricacies of human relationships, as well as the animals and objects that make up our days. As Poetry magazine said of his work, "Kooser documents the dignities, habits, and small griefs of daily life, our hunger for connection, our struggle to find balance."

Review Quotes

"Kooser's greatest assets have long been his generous eye and his way with understatement, two qualities abundantly present in this book of new and selected poems."--The New York Times

"Routine, which orders the lives of Kooser and his country neighbors, has a monastic intensity in his poems, as the repetition of domestic ritual is embraced, not merely endured."-- The Christian Science Monitor

"[Kooser] will one day rank alongside Edgar Lee Masters, Robert Frost, and William Carlos Williams."-- The Star Tribune

"There is a sense of quiet amazement at the core of all Kooser's work."-- The Washington Post

"Kooser's ability to discover the smallest detail and render it remarkable is a rare gift."--The Bloomsbury Review

"[Kooser] brushes poems over ordinary objects, revealing metaphysical themes that way an investigator dusts for fingerprints. His language is so controlled and convincing that one can't help but feel significant truths behind his lines."-- The Philadelphia Inquirer

"Kooser documents the dignities, habits, and small griefs of daily life, our hunger for connection, our struggle to find balance in natural and unnaturally human worlds."-- Poetry

About the Author

Ted Kooser is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, and he served as the Poet Laureate of the United States (2004-2006). Raised and educated in the Midwest, Kooser worked for most of his life as a life insurance executive in Lincoln, Nebraska. His book Delights & Shadows won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Kooser remains one of the best-selling poets in the U.S., and recently retired as the Presidential Professor at the University of Nebraska where he taught courses in poetry and nonfiction writing. He continues to be an important spokesperson for poetry through his newspaper column "American Life in Poetry." He lives with his wife in Garland, Nebraska.