Drawing from his eleven previous books and from never-before-published poems, Search Party: The Collected Poems of William Matthews is the definitive compilation of this beloved poet's work.William Matthews's poems pay acute attention to the world he lived in, and his language was as unsparing as his eye. Pleasure is abundant in these poems: music, wine, love, and language are, for Matthews, the necessary consolations of life's sufferings. Edited by his son, Sebastian Matthews, and by William Matthews's friend and fellow poet Stanley Plumly (who also introduces the book), Search Party is sure to be a treasured collection by this exemplary "poet of experiece."