Tomas Morin's poems are as infectious and spooky and darkly humorous as the Brothers Grimm, as shapely and colloquial and eloquent as John Donne, and as skeptical and addicted to history-as-fable as Zbigniew Herbert."-Tom Sleigh, from the introduction"An energetic and moving book of fantasias and elegies."-Edward HirschSelected from over one thousand manuscripts for the APR/Honickman First Book Prize, Tomas Q. Morin's debut is rich with the mastery of Morin's lush storytelling. From war-torn images of Eastern Europe in the mid-1900s to modern-day glimpses of the American southwest, these poems are bold and brightly imagined. From "Castrato":What do you call a gifted sopranowith no balls who is too uglyto play the heroine, is never tall enoughfor the role of the hero? Wait a quarter centuryand you can fast forward past the floggings, the endless sermons, the giggles under alderswith curious girls, busted noses, carpedsisters with chubby boys, the innumerablenights of sleeplessness. Better to skip all thisunpleasantness and descend the last risetoward the coast where you can stroll the docksin the short light of winter, get lostin the cloudbank, let the sea ripenin your hair, scan the flat waterfor the handsome young men . . .Tomas Q. Morin was born in Texas and educated at Texas State University and Johns Hopkins University. He lives in San Marcos, Texas, and teaches at Texas State University." | A Larger Country by Tomas Q. Morin, Paperback | Indigo Chapters