Poetry. WHAT HE OUGHT TO KNOW collects nearly forty poems from Foster's earlier books with thirty new works, including "Dear Image Maker," "The Physicist Who Wants to Act, But Needs To Sleep," "Itinerary, 2004," "Living Almost Without Cause," "The Fractal Lie," and, in particular, the long poem "The Way We Live Now." The poems draw on the poet's life in the Middle East and in New England, a troubled marriage, friendships with fellow artists, and homosexual desire. Elegant and rigorously constructed, the poems are grounded in the gnostic poetics Foster discussed in Answerable To None; although most of the poems reflect deep suffering and loss, many also embody a charming and cathartic humor. As one reviewer wrote of the poems in Foster's first book, The Space Between Her Bed and Clock, "This is negative capability taken to a new level & it feels good--the flight-simulating G-forces in a jet built for oblivion."

Author City: JERSEY CITY, NJ USA

Edward Foster's most recent book is Febra Alba, a collection of his poems in Romanian translation. His selected poems, WHAT HE OUGHT TO KNOW, was published in 2006. He is the author or editor of many books of poetry, biography, and criticism and is a professor of American Studies in the College of Arts and Letters at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He is the founding editor of Talisman House, Publishers.

Reviews and Other Links
http://edwardfoster.net/
http://jacketmagazine.com/29/olson-foster.html