The White Lie

"If you are wondering whether great poems are still being written, you ought to read Don Paterson’s The White Lie."—Charles Simic

"America is in for a delightful treat now that the work of Scottish poet Don Paterson is within its easy reach. A perfect blend of light and dark humor, his poems combine the mordant with the celebratory, the sweetness of the heart with the bitter taste of experience. Most of all, he knows how to write poems in which every line is awake, every one composed with care and a billiard-player’s feel for the way language can spin us subtly this way and that."—Billy Collins

"His is the kind of poetry that teaches all us writers of prose a thing or three; words weighed with equal attention to form and function; sentiment reigned in and challenged; images of such particularity and elegance, it makes you jealous to look at them. Above all, Paterson has an infinite sensitivity to the world, and that rare quality makes any collection of his work a cause for celebration."—Zadie Smith

"The sheer vigor and liveliness of Mr. Paterson’s imagination, the bustle and thunder of his language, his speed of thought, admirable energy, wit, and dexterity make The White Lie an occasion in the history of modern poetry worth boisterous celebration."—Anthony Hecht