SOURCE: A review of In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and Poems, 1961-1991, in The Bloomsbury Review, Vol. 13, No. 4, July-August, 1993, pp. 14, 22.

Below, Anderson provides a thematic and stylistic review of In the Presence of the Sun.

There have been a number of notable collected and selected volumes of poetry over the past few years, including award-winning books by Mary Oliver and Hayden Carruth, as well as important editions from Gary Snyder, Donald Hall, Derek Mahon, Cynthia Macdonald, Adrienne Rich, and others. The significance of this is not lost: As we approach the end of the millennium, many of our poets are at the top of their form. These collections allow us to assess their accomplishments as well as gauge the state of the art over the past several decades.

We are fortunate to add to the growing list of retrospective collections this new book from N. Scott...