A Commonplace Book of Pentastichs Author:James Laughlin, Hayden Carruth Poetry. A COMMONPLACE BOOK OF PENTASTICHS is a compilation of 249 poems composed in a fine-line stanza form first introduced in THE SECRET ROOM (1997). It is the last book of his own that Laughlin helped to prepare. Musing on the full collection, Hayden Carruth writes in his introduction: "For the reader it is a survey of literature that wi... more »ll never be found in the classroom ... but indubitably will be found in loving longlasting proximity on many a bedside table." James Laughlin founded New Directions in 1936. His own first book, NATURAL THINGS, appeared nine years later. POEMS NEW AND SELECTED, was completed shortly before his death in 1997.« less