American Smooth Poems Author:Rita Dove "Rita Dove pulls the ultimate dance trick: she makes it look easy."New York Times Book Review — An occasion to celebrate: a new collection by the Pulitzer Prize-winning former poet laureateher first since On the Bus with Rosa Parks. With the grace of an Astaire, Rita Dove's magnificent poems pay homage to our kale... more »idoscopic cultural heritagefrom the glorious shimmer of an operatic soprano to Bessie Smith's mournful wail; from paradise lost to angel food cake; from hotshots at the local shooting range to the Negro jazz band in World War I whose music conquered Europe before the Allied advance. Like the ballroom-dancing couple of the title poem, smiling and making the difficult seem effortless, Dove explores the shifting surfaces between perception and intimation.« less