In his first collection of poetry and prose, award-winning fiction writer Richard Bausch proves that he is also an accomplished poet. Penned over a span of many years, the poems in These Extremes deal with a wide variety of subjects. Many focus on Bauschโs own family and relationships. In one long, touching poem, โBarbara (1943โ1974),โ the poet memorializes his oldest sister, who died young. He also offers two prose memory pieces, recollections from his childhood and adolescence. In these brief โessays,โ Bausch draws loving but unsentimental portraits of his father, mother, and other relatives as he reflects on the sense of belonging that he gained from his familyโsomething he hopes to pass on to his own children in this violent, chaotic world. In โBack Stories,โ the center of the book, Bausch effortlessly weaves poems around familiar characters from history, literature, movies, and popular cultureโincluding Thomas Jefferson, Shakespeareโs Falstaff, Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckooโs Nest, and Sam, the piano player from Casablanca. Decidedly accessible in form, theme, and expression, These Extremes will surprise and delight lovers of poetry and fans of Bauschโs stories and novels.