And the Land Dreams Darkly

'Steve Gerson delivers brilliantly etched vignettes of America’s psyche, soul, and temperament in his fourth collection of lyrical poetry and poetic prose. Once more, in unsurpassed fashion, he captures the essence of the nation’s too little remembered, easily forgotten, readily ignored, continuously ignored heartland. His elegant writings touch on abuse and enduring love, shattered hopes and dashed expectations, stunted dreams and steely determination to weather the storm, both literally and otherwise. But even Gerson’s darkest representations are, happily, leavened by the beauty of their delivery-which includes wonderfully apt titles--stitched together in seamless fashion with a fluidity seldom attained by other chroniclers of Americana. One fortunate enough to devour Gerson’s written words experiences a multitude of emotions, ranging from anguish and remembrance to hopefulness and sheer delight. More than matching his earlier rich offerings, And the Land Dreams Darkly further cements Steve Gerson’s standing as a leading 21st century poet-artist. Its creative entries skillfully explore a fitting arc of yearnings, life transformations, and, in characteristic fashion for the author, love and loss.'   -Dr. Robert C. Cottrell, The Year Without a World Series: Major League Baseball and the Road to the 1994 Players’ Strike.'Steve’s poetry and short stories make you think, make you feel, make you despair, and make you hope. Steve’s vignettes bring each character and the places they inhabit to life in the span of a few words or phrases, fully realized in your mind’s eye. His evocative writing creates snapshots of human existence, spanning all its highs and lows. From the humble and downtrodden, to those hopefully in love, and to those despondent in the face of their loss, Steve carries you through on a wave of emotion. His writing makes you think about your own place in the world.'   -Stacy Harken, JD, Information Architect/Technical Writer, Garmin Industries'Steve Gerson’s latest collection And the Land Dreams Darkly is his best to date. In this offering from Spartan Press, Gerson plays with genre from Japanese form poetry to micro plays, narrative poetry to short-short fiction. Most memorable are the sensory snapshots in time like the scene in ’The Moment’ where kids are drinking cider and hoping Jim might play the fiddle. Or the creak in the floor from ’The Life of Grandpa’s House.’ Readers are won over by the characters who are ’planting in dry land’ and ’charting a life’ across the middle section of the country. This collection is for anyone who would like to sit with someone else’s experience for a while.'   -Dr. Beth Gulley, English professor, author of Dragon      Eggs and Frog Joy.