Petty Theft (Poems)

In Petty Theft, Nicholas Friedman worries “pettiness” into something much larger, examining miniatures, daily defeats, marginal figures, and overlooked historical events until they fill the eye and mind. These poems often deliver the reader elsewhere: to the busked streets of Assisi; to a burning circus tent in Hartford, Connecticut; to a stone circle in England; to the poet’s native Upstate New York; and, finally, to his adoptive California.

The theft of the collection’s title lurks on every page, luring faith to doubt, love to loss, and appearance to illusion. Yet these poems never lapse into hopelessness. Even where failure and tragedy precede human understanding, Petty Theft suggests the possibility of sustenance and recompense. Both confident and questioning, this debut collection announces Friedman as an important new voice in American poetry.