Amazon.com Review
A review in Poet and Criticmade the bold statement that R.T. Smith's writing "renews one's faith in the value of poetry." The title poem in this fine offering shows the kind of dazzling imagery the reviewer must have been struck by, as the speaker describes walking through the woods, moving "through the transluminous morning when / stargrass and wet snagweeds glisten / their iodine gold." Elsewhere in the same poem, Smith shows that he is also capable of writing that is strikingly unadorned, as he listens for "the snort and tusk-scrape / of a feral pig pissed off at frost." This book also contains several fine poetic eulogies, the best of which is written about David Crockett. It's a sly meditation about how little sense our lives often make to us while we're in the midst of them.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Review
R. T. Smith's poems and their vision of nature have impressed readers for many years. Hunter-Gatherer is his fifth published collection. Smith has so honed his poetic vision that even the palest of urbanites might appreciate the philosophy his poems espouse. Too, in this latest collection, Smith tills another theme familiar to his readers: American history. His poetic eulogies for Davy Crockett, Chief Osceola, General Robert E. Lee, and Geronimo are stunning for the individualized emotions they convey. If history were taught in textbooks and class lecture the way Smith writes history in his poetic narrations there would be whole new generations of enthusiasts seeking out their country's past. Smith also pays regard to Ireland, where he has resided for two past summers. Just as he does with nature and American history, Smith carries the reader into his Irish poems in so persuasive and dramatic a manner that he or she becomes particularly informed and can only view the subject the human experience in Ireland with sympathetic eyes. Highly recommended reading! -- Midwest Book Review
