Traveling Salesman's Son

In his latest collection, William Bernhardt again demonstrates that he is a true poet, one whose work accomplishes the difficult task of being both accessible and profound. He communicates with grace and illumination, avoiding the obscurity and obfuscation that sometimes causes readers to avoid modern poetry. He writes about the subjects that matter most: personal relationships, family, children, and the challenges of everyday life. Bernhardt is a poet who appeals even to those who think they don't like poetry and is cherished by those who do.

While addressing subjects of everlasting import, Bernhardt's poems are engaging, relevant, and sometimes playful, reminiscent of beloved predecessors such as Billy Collins and Robert Frost. Readers will be struck by the versatility of the poems and the wide range of form. Smart, lyrical, observant, and textured, these poems explain why Rilla Askew (Kind of Kin) called Bernhardt "a compelling new voice in American poetry" and R.C. Davis-Undiamo (World Literature Today) named him one of "the nation's literary treasures."

"William Bernhardt writes with warmth, wit, and a clear desire to commune with his reader. Whether he is working in free verse or in meter and rhyme, Bernhardt makes of poetry a way of connecting person to person. Like Montaigne, Bernhardt is a man consubstantial with his book, and the full range of human feeling is on display in these poems with great honesty and ardent empathy." —Benjamin Meyers, OK Poet Laureate, Crouch-Mathis Professor of Literature, OBU

"In this new collection, Bernhardt comes out guns blazing with the wonderful manifesto "Get This Over With"...and in the title poem "Traveling Salesman's Son," we get a solid taste for the pace, honesty, and power of the book overall...These poems rove through the minefields of society and culture with the eyes of a seasoned soldier. They roam love's hall of mirrors, knowing when to laugh and when to cry at the distortions. And they take a long thoughtful walk with what it means to be "family." It's all here." —Nathan Brown, former Oklahoma Poet Laureate