By turns funny and poignant, whimsical and down-to-earth, The World Doesn’t End by Charles Simic is a Pulitzer Prize winning collection by a poet at the height of his powers. Simic masterfully constructs bizarre, unpredictable, and captivating visions in lyrical sentences that pile one incongruous turn upon another, building images that are full of surprise. Much like the river in one poem which flows backward, the power of Simic’s inner world derives from turning logic on its head and taking a look from another direction.

Upon its release in 1989, The World Doesn’t End was lauded by critics and colleagues. Publisher’s Weekly raved, “A master of the absurd and the unexpected, Simic presents a collection of prose poems that will not fail to amuse and delight.” The Washington Post called it, “A beautifully designed box of verbal fireworks… a seamless fusion of wild jazz and delicate, moonstruck, European chamber music. Young poets everywhere should read it attentively.”