Night Life

Here is a book of poems whose common thread is a single speaking voice, constantly trying to distinguish itself. Paul Schmidt's experience as an actor and playwright is central here, as he tries out one voice after another: outlaw, outcast, humorous or ironic commentator, witness to pain and despair, all of them voices from the edge of our fractured culture. But beneath these dazzling verbal and linguistic performances is a cry for acceptance, which their stance guarantees will never be accomplished.