Stephen Burt has long been regarded among the most important critics now writing, but this year marks his emergence as one of his generation's most interesting poets. Though this is Burt's third collection of poems, until now his essays and books of criticism may have gotten the better part of his mind. But, as is often the case, the right subjects have beckoned great poetry. Mostly Belmont is a book about domestic life: fatherhood, marriage in a Boston suburb, days spent in the

—Craig Morgan Teicher