A Hat on the Bed

Poetry. Christine Scanlon's A HAT ON THE BED is a book of dazzling shifts, a kaleidoscopic work in which, says Elaine Equi, spirits of the past and present speak to each other and to us, and in so doing assume new combinations with every reading. This is an exciting and impressive poetic debut. Kathleen Ossip notes the book's range: The poet's keen mind lights on...theology, (auto)biography, science, Danny Kaye, grilled cheese sandwiches. The poetry is sometimes impish, even jaunty, sometimes puzzling, always seductive and very smart, says David Lehman, who appreciates the poems' strange if not wondrous changes and clarifications--a mysterious and exhilarating first book. A Hat on the Bed is the winner of the Barrow Street Press Book Prize, 2003.