Daniel Thomas Moran Looking for the Uncertain Past Foreword by Daniela Gioseffi April 2006. 112 pp. ISBN-13 978-3-901993-24-4; ISBN-10 3-901993-24-X £10.50 (+ 2.00 p&p), €11.00 (+ 2.00 p&p), US$13.00 (+ 3.00 p&p) "Looking for the Uncertain Past is a collection of poems that shows Daniel Thomas Moran, Poet Laureate ofSuffolk County, New York, to be a writer very much in the modern American, William Carlos Williams tradition.His poetry is appealing and pleasurable, not laborious, to read. It is accessible in its ironies and profunditiesand very much concerned with close observance of everyday life. [...] Moran's poetry talks with sardonic wit andsensitive spirit without sending us puzzling away from its lively clarities. A sharp intellect is also at work inthese writings, an eye for absurdity as well as for the splendors in the everyday. [...] Moran's poems proceednaturally without contrivance, and the ironies pointed out often strike us as wittyafterthoughts. Yet, we catch our breath and grieve or laugh with the poet in unison with his compas-sionate humor.His writing is both sensitive and muscular and divulges the mind of a rational observer who does not miss nuance andcannot be fooled by artifice." Daniela Gioseffi, "Foreword"

"Looking for the Uncertain Past shows that Mr. Moran is still at the top of his game. [...] He writestouchingly about what John Cheever has called 'the pain and the sweetness of life.' Mr. Moran is playful, lyrical,thoughtful, and sometimes profound in this delightful collection."

"[...] There are some excellent poems here - such as the beautiful 'Opus 75', for that neglected master SamuelMenashe, underivatively echoic of the older poet's manner and characteristic subject, or the powerful, poised elegyon the fine jazz singer Susannah McCorkle after her suicide in 2001. Very different in tone, but equally accomplished,are the witty (and pointed) quatrains of 'White on Rice' - the 'Rice' of the title being Condoleeza Rice. Amongsta number of assured love poems is 'Light and Line and Lightness', a minor masterpiece of affirmative tenderness. [...]Moran's is a distinctive, very American, voice which deserves an attentive hearing."

"These poems are enjoyable because none of them are at all 'dry' and uninteresting. They're carefully crafted[...] all thoroughly accessible. Moran is not frightened to laugh at himself and this is tremendous, lucid,solid stuff. A wide range of subjects and concerns. I hope this book is readily available to all who would like it."

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