"The poet Carl Phillips combines beauty and insight in syntactically surprising lines that always reward careful study . an exquisite collection." --Ron Charles, The Washington Post "Carl Phillips is a poet of enchantment and persuasion . I couldn't mistake these poems for any other poet's work. In a moment obsessed with snappy performances, Phillips's poems are contemplative, rich, and troubled. They are rarely axiomatic or quotable. Often, their power lies in their unfolding." --Richie Hofmann, Los Angeles Review of Books "A master class in [Phillips's] deceptively gentle voice and striking depictions of raw humanity .

Every selection provides a portal to this accomplished author's work. An important milestone in the still flourishing career of a most brilliant poet." -- Booklist " "Glowing confirmation that, as he enters his 60s, Phillips is writing better than ever. The poems that open Then the War are extraordinary ecological lyric verse, subtle and transformative." --Fiona Sampson, The Guardian "This selected offers admirers of Phillips's work a chance to revisit his masterful poems, and new readers an opportunity to see the evolution of a vital presence in American poetry . These lyrically rich, insightful poems are full of palpable aching--'like the rhyme between lost/ and most'--and a human urge to understand. This remarkable compendium is a testament to the spirit of Phillips's work." -- Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "With the incomparably gorgeous, deftly poetic sentences that make up his work, Carl Phillips has been exploring intimacy, sexuality, and interiority for more than a decade.

" --Corinne Segal, Literary Hub gorgeous, deftly poetic sentences that make up his work, Carl Phillips has been exploring intimacy, sexuality, and interiority for more than a decade." --Corinne Segal, Literary Hub gorgeous, deftly poetic sentences that make up his work, Carl Phillips has been exploring intimacy, sexuality, and interiority for more than a decade." --Corinne Segal, Literary Hub gorgeous, deftly poetic sentences that make up his work, Carl Phillips has been exploring intimacy, sexuality, and interiority for more than a decade." --Corinne Segal, Literary Hub.