Before and After: Poems

Before and After: Poems

As both poet and novelist, Charlie Smith has been hailed as "prodigiously talented" by the New York Times , and Madison Smartt Bell describes him as "a spectacular stylist" and "a visionary." Before and After , his fourth volume, is his most powerful collection to date―with poems so short and direct they hit home like a knife to the heart. In Before and After , Smith effectively captures the intimate life of one family―in all its courage, deceit, misery, madness, love, revelation, and rage―and transforms it to record the life of the American family. A glittering, forceful collection. " Each of these short and stunning poems secures Smith's place as one of the most original and captivating voices on the current scene. " A glittering, forceful collection. Charlie Smith is the author of nine previous poetry collections, eight novels, and a book of novellas. He has won a Guggenheim Fellowship and a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts, among other honors. He lives in New York City.