One of the finest poets writing today, Grace Schulman finds order in art and nature that enables her to stand fast in a threatened world. The title refers to Itzhak Perlman's performance of a concerto despite a missing string, which inspires a celebration of life and all its limitations. For her, song imparts endurance: Thelonious Monk evokes Creation when he snaps his fingers; John Coltrane's improvisations embody her own heart's desire to "get it right on the first take"; the wind plays a harpshaped oak; and her immigrant ancestors remember their past by singing prayers on a ship bound for New York. Harold Bloom offers these words of praise: "Grace Schulman has developed into one of the permanent poets of her generation, comparable to Louise Gluck and the late Vicki Hearne and Agha Shahid Ali. Like them, she is an elegiac, highly original religious lyricist, though more a celebrant of the aesthetics of spirituality. "The Broken String" surpasses her distinguished previous work."