"Robert Louthan's poems are simple and strange. They speak the plain speech of dreams, and are quietly but firmly committed to that kind of order." —John Ashbery "Anyone can be original. What is far more important is writing that strikes to a depth of the psyche. For an image to affect us, Magritte has said, there must be affinities between the objects represented by the image. The poems of Robert Louthan reveal thee affinities evidence of a world that exists all around us, if we have eyes to see it. To read *Shrunken Planets* is a fascinating and unforgettable experience." —Louis Simpson