Alien abduction, reincarnation, earthquake, love, death, middle age, children, the end of the world—Jon Loomis’s new collection covers a lot of ground. From the quiet and contemplative lyric voice of “The Past” and “If I Come Back” to the wild, unrepentant personae of “Jon Loomis, Inc.” and “Shut Up and Eat Your Jellyfish,” these poems are both necessary and brave. The Mansion of Happiness is a love song to the teetering present, facing an ominous future with courage, candor, and mordant humor.

Jon Loomis is twice a Fine Arts Work Center Writing Fellow. His first book of poetry, Vanitas Motel, won the inaugural FIELD Poetry Prize; his second, The Pleasure Principle. was also published by Oberlin College Press. The author of the Frank Coffin mystery series (set in Provincetown and Truro!), he teaches at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.