Publisher's Synopsis
Jim Barnes's aesthetic is vivid throughout these poems. A high sense of loss pervades the book, but Barnes's strong-willed persona never regrets what has passed. Instead, the persona gains strength from it. What has come to be his signature in four earlier books of poetry and remains his mark in The Sawdust War is essentially where his art lies, a strong sense of loss, of redemption coming out of loss, of place both geographical and spiritual.